Voldemort Can't Stop the Love
by la raconteur
Summary: The ever so dashing Leopold Ackerley has never been unlucky when it comes to finding a desirable witch. And then the Ministry decided to step in and Harry Potter was forced into his life.
1. Chapter 1

Voldemort Can't Stop the Love

**Oh yeah, um, I don't own Potter or Potter related characters.**

Story updates on Mondays. And reviews would be so appreciated that it's not even funny.

**Chapter One**

Leopold could think of several ways to describe the situation, however the only word that seemed truly fitting was "ridiculous."

He knew that when he came into the office and Kingsley Shacklebolt smiled at him, today would not be a good day. It was well known around the Auror department that when Shacklebolt smiled, you'd end up frowning. Shacklebolt had a wicked sense of humor that somehow always seemed to be at its peak when his fellow Aurors where at their most uncomfortable. And since Shacklebolt not only smiled, he brought Leopold coffee and attempted to make a joke, Leopold almost broke down into fearful tears at his desk. Leopold knew he was going to die.

"Ackerley! Can you come into my office for a moment?" Funeral music began to inexplicably ring in Leopold's ears. Visions of his own rather painful death played in his head in rapid succession. Many of his coworkers stuck their heads out of their cubicles in time to give him sympathetic looks as he made his way to his doom. His partner gave him a pat on the back and told Leopold that he'd wait at least a week before putting in a request for a new partner.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Leopold stood on the threshold of Shacklebolt's office, unwilling to actually enter. Shacklebolt was sitting at his desk with his hands folded, a placid smile on his face. Another wave of fear ripped through Leopold. He considered quitting before Shacklebolt could say anything, fleeing from the office and becoming a roadie for the Weird Sisters. Sure that'd be a waste of his extensive Auror training, but so would death.

"Come in, Ackerley, come in! I have an assignment for you."

"Are you going to kill me, sir?" Leopold blurted out before he could stop himself. Kingsley chuckled amicably and a steady stream of terror coursed through Leopold's veins.

"Not this week, that's next week's little project. This week I have something much better than that."

"Better for whom, exactly?" Leopold tried to ignore the apparent foreshadowing of his demise, hoping he could somehow injure himself during this assignment and be unable to work next week. It didn't occur to him that Shacklebolt could perhaps be attempting to make another joke.

"Oh, well that has yet to be determined. You may find yourself quite honored by the job," Shacklebolt replied, his smile growing. Leopold closed his eyes to prevent himself from wondering if Shacklebolt was somehow a reincarnation of the Dark Lord.

"I highly doubt that, sir, but what is it?"

"Quite right, I shouldn't prolong this for much longer. Time's a wasting, as the muggles say." Shacklebolt laughed.

"Oh dear god, you are going to kill me!" Leopold clutched his chest in horror, resisting the urge to fling himself bodily from the room.

"Quit being so dramatic, Ackerley. This will be fun. Sit down, sit down." Shacklebolt waved his wand at the chair in front of his desk, which slid backward, its arm moving to beckon him inside in a manner that would have been come hither had it been human. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"I've never been so afraid in my life, sir." Shacklebolt ignored Leopold's comment, pulling out a folder from his desk drawer. Leopold flinched at the movement, wincing at the flash of green light in his mind's eye.

"This mission concerns Harry Potter. You do remember Potter, don't you?" Leopold refrained from pointing out how unnecessary this question was. Harry Potter was currently in Auror training, having ridden his Chosen One fame to its utmost potential and finding himself in need of a job. He was constantly followed around by an orbit of gibbering people, most of the time looking as though he'd much like to hex them out of existence. Leopold pitied the young man and made it his job to at least be mildly polite to him whenever their paths crossed in the lifts or in the break room.

"Yes, sir. The entire world remembers Potter and he works for this department."

"Well, good. The more familiar you are with Potter, the better." Shacklebolt's smile returned. Leopold's heart skipped several beats. "Since his much publicized split from Miss Ginevra Weasley, Potter has found himself the object of many an adoring female fan. And while that would be…enjoyable for most, it has put quite a strain on Potter's life. The women are desperate. Last week he was almost killed by a stuffed animal infused with some sort of Dark spell designed to rip his clothing off."

"While I'm sure being the object of affection for women everywhere is probably most trying for Harry Potter," Leopold started sarcastically, disregarding the immense amount of jealousy that had fused with his fear. "What does this have to do with me, sir?"

"Everything. Potter is too stubborn to accept a body guard, so we have been forced to think of alternate means of protecting him so that he can continue on with his training and living his life."

"You're stalling, sir."

"We decided that Potter should have an Auror with him all times, however since he won't acknowledge body guard help, we need to make it look like something else. Something that makes Potter both unavailable and undesirable."

"And that is?"

"Marriage."

"Who's the lucky lady?"

"You are." Leopold froze and the silence in the room became so intense it was almost comical.

"I—I don't think I heard you correctly, sir. Am I to understand that you wish me to dress as a woman and marry Harry Potter?"

"Oh, no no no! You did misunderstand me. I want you to marry Harry Potter. There will be no dressing as a woman required." Leopold froze again, staring at Kingsley Shacklebolt in open-mouthed shock.

"Sir, I—um, I don't know what you have heard, but I am not gay. In fact, I haven't met a man who loves women more than I. Just yesterday I chanced upon an encounter with a young woman who did this curious thing with her wand—" Shacklebolt held up his hand to stop Leopold from finishing the sentence. Leopold smirked a little, remembering the woman he met in the Leaky Cauldron and wondering if she'd be there when he got off work and if she managed to find her wand again—

"I assure you, your recent sexual exploits are not only none of my concern, they are deeply frightening to me. No one said that you were gay. The point is to make Potter undesirable to women by forcing them believe they have no chance with him. And what man would be most unattractive to a woman interested in love? A gay man. Not only that, a gay married man." Leopold had no idea what to say. It was true that Leopold had once confessed in the break room that he'd understood why people flocked to Potter and that the guy was probably be the only man Leopold would go gay for, but Shacklebolt couldn't possibly have heard that. Furthermore, this was completely ridiculous.

"This assignment is completely ridiculous, sir."

"Why do you say that, Ackerley? The well being of one of your fellow Aurors is at stake and you think that is ridiculous?"

"We all obtained several N.E.W.T.s while at Hogwarts, I find it hard to believe that no one in this department could think of a proper plan to help out the Potter kid."

"This is the proper plan we came up with. And Potter seemed…willing…to give it a try." Leopold paused, unsure if the question he was about to ask would be answered in the way he would have liked.

"Is, uh, is Potter gay, sir?"

"What about me suggests that I care about the sexual orientations of my Aurors? I don't know, nor to I want to know, if Potter is gay. This is the best solution we could come up with and I think you're the best man for the job. You are fairly good looking, everyone would believe that you and Potter are a match." Leopold could not believe what he was hearing and indeed could not believe that it was coming from the usually stern faced and serious Kingsley Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt was not only grinning in savage amusement, he was twiddling his thumbs innocently. Leopold suddenly found himself wishing Kingsley had sent him to his death instead.

"While I'm a bit flattered that you just called me good looking, I don't think it'll work, sir."

"Why not?"

"For one thing, I'm straight. And that will become blaringly apparent when I sleep with woman and don't touch Potter."

"Well then you won't be doing those things, will you? It is up to you to make this realistic. If that means putting your sexual romps on hold, then you damn well put them on hold." Shacklebolt's deep voice resonated with a hint of irritation. "Potter's protection is in your hands."

"This is a gross misuse of my extensive Auror training. Pretending to be the husband of the most well known wizard in the world was not in the Auror department's leaflet. Had it been, I may have listened to my mother and took up a job in the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"But they do not get enjoyable missions such as this one in Magical Cooperation." Leopold knew that the more he argued, the more amusement Shacklebolt would gain from the situation. He may have been unable to think of a way out of it now, but he'd figure something out by the end of the day.

"I'd rather you kill me, sir."

"What did I tell you about being dramatic, Ackerley?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Er, are you Leopold Ackerley?" An unsure voice asked from above Leopold. Leopold hesitated before looking up. He had been unsuccessful in trying to convince Shacklebolt that the plan was ridiculous and he would have no part in it. All he did was get Shacklebolt angry enough to strike him with a Jelly Legs Jinx and banish him from the office. Leopold supposed that the situation wasn't completely Harry Potter's fault and that he shouldn't take out his anger and desperation on the poor guy. Nevertheless, Leopold couldn't help but curse Potter's good looking parents for passing on their good looking genes to their now good looking son.

"Yeah, I am. You're Harry Potter, I presume."

"What gave it away?"

"The impending sense of doom that followed you into my cubicle." Harry snorted, leaning against the flimsy wall of Leopold's cramped cubicle. He looked as uncomfortable as Leopold felt and that was at least a slight comfort.

"I get that a lot. I'm glad that you're going to enjoy this about as much as I am or less so. Try to talk Shacklebolt out of it?"

"With as much flattery as I could. He seems to think this is a good idea. Either that or he really wants to see me suffer. He must be trying to get me back for that time I accidentally arrested him while he was using Polyjuice for a case."

"I've learned that when the older generation gets an idea in their head, they are hard pressed to be talked out of it. I think we're in this for the duration, unfortunately. Which means this is going to be the most awkward couple of weeks of my life."

"At least you'll be able to recover from it. Shacklebolt is single handedly killing my sex life. I will never be able to find a girlfriend when this is over. That wand witch from the Leaky Cauldron will never look at me again." Leopold had to stop himself from wailing in anguish. Harry looked confused at the mention of the witch, but didn't question.

"Do you have any idea how long this is supposed to last?" Potter questioned, gazing about the cubicle in vague interest. His gaze rested upon his partner's nametag for a second before he looked back at Leo.

"Long enough to make sure the dangerously amorous vixens vying for your attention are thoroughly convinced you're a hopeless cause." Harry Potter paused, appearing to be deep in thought. Leopold was busy trying to think of a way to kick the guy out of his cubicle without actually telling him to get out. They were going to be spending an unnatural amount of time with each other soon enough, there was no reason why they had to add more time to that.

"Er, so your place or mine?" Harry asked abruptly. Leopold snapped out of his thoughts in time to give Potter a quizzical look and a raised eyebrow. He had the sudden, not exactly disturbing but slightly confusing, thought that Potter was coming on to him. As this situation was completely unique, Leopold didn't quite know what to do.

"Pardon?"

"To live. Your place or mine? My place is sort of depressing, but I have a house elf and an abundance of rooms. Plus there are loads of protective spells on it that I haven't yet had a chance to remove." For some reason, while Leopold was thinking of all the ways the pending fake marriage horrified him, living with Potter had not been addressed. Now that he thought of it, however, he felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

"Merlin, what did I do to deserve this?" Leopold muttered. "I—uh, I don't know. Whichever works best for you, I suppose. I have a flat in downtown London, but there's, ah, only one bedroom."

"Grimmauld Place it is, then," Harry said, quickly. "Shacklebolt said we should start the, er, courtship as soon as possible. Someone sent me hexed flowers today with a dark spell modified to leave permanent kiss marks on whoever smells them, as the secretary found out the hard way." Leopold was stunned. He had never heard of women going to such extreme lengths for a man before. It was disheartening that it hadn't happened to him and shocking that it would happen at all.

"My God, Potter, are you part Veela or something?" Harry looked appalled at the thought, shaking his head in dissent vigorously.

"And now that you put that thought into my mind, I'm going to have nightmares for quite some time. Thank you for that." Leopold smirked. He was struck by how adult yet how naïve Potter seemed to be. He supposed things like that happened to a kid who didn't have a proper childhood. Or adolescence. Or life.

"So sorry for making_your _life slightly uncomfortable. I'll remember not to mention things like that while I'm busy being your _wife._" Harry frowned, rolling his eyes. He straightened up and turned to leave.

"This ought to be interesting," he grumbled, walking away. Leopold sighed, turning back to the reports he was attempting to write up. Interesting wasn't quite the word Leopold would have used to describe the situation. Ridiculous was the only word he could think of that he could say in front of a child.

"Leo! You're still alive!" Roger Davies exclaimed as he strode into the room, thumping Leo on the back. Leo sighed again, pushing the reports aside and letting his head droop into his hands.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Unfortunately? What did Shacklebolt want with you?"

"To give me a ridiculous mission that won't work and that he knows probably won't work but gave to me anyway to torture me."

"Bad luck, mate. What do you have to do?" Leo shook his head, hoping Davies wouldn't press the matter further. He didn't, he sat down at his desk instead, resting his feet on top of the reports Leo had cast aside. "Do I need a new partner, then?"

"I don't know. Probably and Merlin willing, not."

"Well that's good news. I was afraid I'd be stuck with a Hufflepuff. Or someone like Harry Potter. I work better with Ravenclaws. Though, I suppose Potter wouldn't be too bad, he could toss a few of his admirers my way, instead of driving them away like you." Davies snorted derisively, picking at his nails.

"Shut up. I went home with that witch from the Leaky last night, you know."

"After she had a pint or so of firewhiskey in her."

"Ergh, shut up, Davies. She did not have that much to drink."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Leo rolled his eyes, but smiled.

"And you realize that we've been out of Hogwarts for three years. House allegiance doesn't really count for much anymore." Davies ignored Leo, pulling the report out from under his feet to flip through it uninterestedly.

"We got a case while you were in with Shacklebolt, by the way. Apparently some goblins have been terrorizing towns in Wales."

"Ah! A distraction. Just what I need to help me not to think of the awful turn my life has taken."

"Stop being so damn dramatic, Leo."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Leopold arrived at Harry Potter's dubious house at dinnertime. He didn't immediately request entry, he found himself staring at numbers 11 and 13 with no indication that there was, or ever would be, a number 12. He figured there was some sort of Unplottable charm on the place and knew ways around those, however he wondered if he feigned an inability to enter the house, he could prolong the inevitable.

As he stood there, precariously toeing that line that separated leaving and staying, numbers 11 and 13 slowly began to pull apart and number 12 forced its way between them.

"Damn," Leopold muttered, waiting for the movement to stop before he stepped up to the gate. The door opened and a tall, red headed young man exited followed by a slightly shorter brown haired young woman. Leopold instantly recognized the two to be Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, he'd of course seen them trailing Harry Potter during their school days and had the occasion of meeting Hermione in the corridors of the Ministry a few times. He had no idea what Weasley did with his time, but Leopold was positive he didn't waste it at the Ministry. Leo deemed Mr. Weasley to be a lucky man.

"You must be Leopold," Hermione said amicably when they noticed him standing there, flouncing down the stairs to the walkway in order to shake his hand. Apparently those chance encounters in the corridors left more of an impression on Leo, who had a thing for remembering names and faces, than it did on Miss Granger.

"I suppose I must," Leopold replied, trying to keep the despondence to a minimum. Granger's smile faltered slightly, but she recovered it quickly when Leopold took her hand without hesitation, shaking it briskly.

"Well someone has to be," she answered, winking at him. "It's nice to meet you. I've seen you around the Ministry before, I know, but with everything so hectic about there, it's difficult to strike up friendly conversation."

"Too true," Leopold agreed, ignoring the intense look Ron Weasley was giving him from behind Granger's back. Leopold abruptly dropped her hand, not before noting the impressive looking engagement ring on her finger, and took a sideways step away from her. Potter cleared his throat, which seemed to snap Weasley out of whatever murderous thoughts he was having concerning Leopold and his close proximity to Granger.

"Ron Weasley," Weasley practically barked, holding out his hand as well. Leopold stopped himself from commenting on the fact that Weasley seemed hell bent on breaking at least two of his fingers. "Any relation to Stewart Ackerley?"

"He's my brother. Or so they tell me." Leopold shrugged in a "fate is a fickle mistress" sort of way, folding his arms across his chest. The three of them watched him cautiously, as though he had his wand out and was threatening to hex at will. "Ah, so will we be talking outside, then? We better make it quick as it looks like rain and I haven't brought an umbrella."

The trio seemed to remember their manners then and, apologizing profusely, Ron and Hermione made their departure, wishing Harry and Leopold good luck as they went. Good luck for what, Leopold didn't want to know, but he accepted their blessings politely enough and followed Harry inside the house.

Number 12 gave the appearance of an opulent house gone to seed then hastily resurrected. It was slightly dark and dingy in some places, scrubbed and polished in others. As Leopold brushed against a tapestry, a faint musty smell wafted into his nose. He coughed to cover up the sneer.

"Has this, um, place been in your family for long?" Leopold was well aware of Potter's tragic orphaning, however, the rest of the Chosen One's lineage was as unknown to him as Shacklebolt's sense of decency.

"It belonged to my godfather. He left it to me when he died but before that it hadn't been inhabited for many years. We've been fixing it up since last year, but there's decades of dust to clear off, you see." Harry frowned at particularly heavy looking hangings covering up what appeared to be a portrait. Leopold decided not to ask about this.

"'We' being you and your charming friends?"

"Right. Well, I'm sorry about Ron. He gets a little protective over Hermione sometimes whenever she's around someone who can be considered even the least bit good looking. And he's also a little sore about, er, Ginny and me. He thinks it's my fault even though I've tried telling him that this time Ginny was the one who broke it off, not me." Despite his overwhelming desire to leave Grimmauld Place as quickly and as painlessly as possible, Harry Potter's unusual series of events seemed to be taking hold of his senses. Leopold was a sucker for interesting back-story. And Harry Potter was the king of remarkable back-story.

Harry led Leopold to a cozy basement kitchen that contrasted harshly against the gloom of the entrance hall. A very old house elf brought them tea and biscuits—which Harry thanked him kindly for—before bowing out.

Although Leopold knew a lot about Harry Potter, a lot of what he knew came second or third hand, most of it from sources he couldn't quite be sure were reliable. Potter seemed so brooding and tragic in Hogwarts, a disposition that was probably enhanced by Voldemort's penchant for trying to take the kid's life at every turn. To see Potter now, comfortable, talking, maybe even happy made Leopold have to quickly reevaluate his previous perceptions of The Boy Who Lived Twice.

"So you and Ginny have been off before?"

"Yeah. Back in school. Right after Dumbledore…well, right before the war. Chosen One stuff sort of puts a stopper on healthy relationships." Harry smirked and Leo grinned, shaking his head at the flippant joke.

"As is wont to happen."

"Anyway, this time wasn't under nearly so serious circumstances. Ginny travels a lot for Quidditch and she thought it might be best to cool it for a bit until she gets a handle on things. She'll be coming back, I'm sure. I personally don't think it's a big deal, but everyone else seems to think otherwise. I'm apparently broken hearted and lonely, I believe is how Rita Skeeter put it."

"Relying heavily on the support of your friends to help you through it," Leopold quoted. Harry gave him a funny look. "Not that I read it or anything, of course. As a ministry official, I don't have time for such rubbish."

"Of course," Harry said, sarcastically, taking a rather large gulp of his tea. Leopold shoved a generous portion of his biscuit into his mouth to prevent himself from saying something stupid for a bit. "Anyway, Skeeter's article pretty much gave the okay for all these crazed females. I will haunt her if one of them kills me."

"How ironic it would be if you were defeated by a rogue bouquet of flowers after surviving the killing curse twice."

"I just hope they don't put that little detail in the history books."

"As your pretend significant other, I feel that it's my duty to make sure they don't." Harry laughed wholeheartedly; almost spitting out the mouthful of tea he had been about to drink. Perhaps this would be slightly more bearable than Leopold had previously thought. As long as one ignored the serious decline in casual sex he was going to encounter for the rest of his life. He supposed there were worse men to pretend to be married to.

"I thank you in advance." There was still a hint of a smile on Harry's face as he sipped the rest of the tea. "So you said your bother is Stewart Ackerley? Has your whole family been in Ravenclaw?"

"Just my mother, Stewart, and I. A fact my mother likes to rub in my father's face whenever she can. He was a Slytherin, you see. A very proud Slytherin who had hoped his children would at least follow in his footsteps since he had the misfortune of falling in love with a Ravenclaw. And Ravenclaws go back for several generations on my mother's side. My father was actually the first Slytherin in a family of Gryffindors. A genetic anomaly if I've ever seen one." Harry was still smirking at him when he finished with his family history. It had all sort of slipped out, Leopold had a soft spot for talking about his family and tended to go a smidge overboard when asked about them. Leopold paused. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just funny to me that people care so much about what houses they are in, even after they leave. I figured that once you leave Hogwarts grounds all that stuff would stay behind, but it doesn't. Not for some people." Irritation suddenly flooded Leopold's veins as he roughly pushed the cup of tea away from him. Potter had a vaguely smug look on his face that Leopold would have paid a good amount of galleons to smack away. The kid may have seen some horrors in his lifetime, but that didn't give him the right to judge Leopold after only knowing him for a few minutes time.

"I do believe you were the one who asked me about my family's Ravenclaw history or lack there of. I never said anything about being a Ravenclaw, nor was I planning to. And while your house allegiance only matters while in Hogwarts, it also says something about who you are as a person and how you'll be outside of Hogwarts. I don't walk around with the Ravenclaw crest on my robes or in blue and bronze pullovers. But I daresay I display some of the traits you find common in Ravenclaws. Just as you display the typical Gryffindor arrogance."

Leopold stood up, brushing the crumbs from the front of his robes. Perhaps this would be slightly less bearable than he had previously thought. "I don't think this is going to work out. You should ask Shacklebolt to find someone else to be your husband. Thanks for the tea, I'll see myself out." Kingsley Shacklebolt couldn't possibly expect Leopold to marry someone he didn't like, pretend or otherwise. Maybe Potter was doomed to have girls following him for the rest of his life.

Leopold smiled viciously at the potential misery that would cause Harry Potter and the fact that Leopold could simply sit back and watch it happen.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Do it or you're sacked," Kingsley Shacklebolt said bluntly.

"But, sir! He's unbearable to be around! Aren't married couples supposed to like each other's company? It won't be believable."

"I'm going to have to introduce you to my wife one day, Ackerley," Shacklebolt remarked, raising an eyebrow. "All you have to do is act potentially in love with Potter in public. You don't have to look at him when you're not around anyone, if you want. The point is to protect the boy, not to like him. Now stop being such a child and get out there and date Harry Potter!" Leopold stared at Shacklebolt for a moment, not quite ready to give up this argument.

"Now this sacking, you spoke of. Would it prevent me from getting another job? For example, the Department of International Magical Cooperation?"

"I will personally make sure you never work in this ministry ever again."

"I suppose I could move to America and see what all the fuss is about."

"ANY MINISTRY! You will be doomed to a life of vagrancy."

"I hear cardboard boxes are quite comfortable once you personalize them."

"You are testing my patience, Ackerley. It's a simple job that won't involve any extraneous use of your magical abilities and it won't influence the regular missions I send you on. It's not as though I'm asking you to fall in love with Potter. It just needs to be believable enough to stop the lovelorn women from almost taking his life every time they send him a gift. Just think about how much he'll owe you when all this is done. And perhaps you'll become good friends."

"Highly unlikely," Leopold pouted. He liked having a job, a flat, and a full Gringotts vault too much to quit and it seemed that Shacklebolt, in his own twisted way, was relying on him. He was stuck, apparently, marrying Harry Potter. "But it appears that nothing can convince you to ask someone else to do the job."

"Everyone else has a history with Potter, whether hating him or being friends with him. You're the least conspicuous."

"I liked it better when you were saying I'm good looking, sir." Shacklebolt smirked, leaning back in his chair and glaring down at Leopold. "Fine, then, fine. How long before we're to announce the engagement?"

"I'd say two weeks. Kids these days are always rushing into marriage." Shacklebolt shook his head mourning all the young lovers in the world who rushed themselves to an early grave. "That's why so many end in divorce."

"That and being forced to marry someone of the same gender for work purposes."

"Well, how commonly does that happen?"

"More than I'd like it to."

"You know, a good way to start this relationship is by asking Potter out to dinner. Publicly." Leopold's mouth dropped open involuntarily. "Is there a problem?"

"I—what—I—uh—no. No problem. Sir. Do you have a dinner recommendation, as well?" Leopold was hard pressed to keep the immense amount of sarcasm out of his tone. Shacklebolt was enjoying this way too much. The more uncomfortable Leopold became, the wider the smile on Shacklebolt's face grew.

"Hm. Let me think on that and get back to you. I wonder if Madam Puddifoot's serves dinner."

"Sir, I realize the Killing Curse is illegal, but they cannot arrest me if I use it on myself."

"Honestly, Ackerley, you're making this more difficult than it needs to be. Now, I think Potter is on a case right now with the other trainees, the perfect opportunity to invite him out to eat."

"In front of my co-workers, sir? Seriously?"

"Go, Ackerley." Leopold sighed, stood up, turned on the spot and apparated to where he knew the trainees where congregated. They all looked at him when he arrived, some surprised, others reverent as though the addition of another full fledged Auror was more than they could bear. They all looked so small and unsure, that is, all except Potter who was standing slightly off to the side with his hands in his pockets, a small smile playing across his face as he watched Leopold. Leopold closed his eyes in an effort to briefly block out what he was about to do, then headed over to Adrian Pucey, that day's Auror in charge. Pucey scowled slightly at the trainees before turning to Leopold.

"What's up?" He asked, tucking his clipboard under his arm.

"Did I interrupt?"

"Yes. But this lot was getting fidgety anyway. Turns out that the bench that kept chucking people off actually started by having a Concealment Charm on it that wore off. We were discussing if that classifies as Intent to Wound or Maim under the rules in the bylaws or Accidental Magical Mishaps." Pucey seemed bored with the whole situation and Leopold couldn't blame him. This was all elementary stuff that they'd gone over at least two years ago. To have to go through it again had to be a rather dull process. However, Leopold would give almost anything to change places with Pucey at that moment.

"Well, that is quite a difficult decision," Leopold said carefully. The younger looking of the trainees seemed pleased with themselves as though proud that they appeared to have stumped a fully qualified and licensed Auror. "And what conclusion have you arrived at?"

"None, yet. No one can seem to agree."

"We believe, sir, that the end result of the spell matters the most since many people have been injured due to this bench," a tall, blonde girl said boldly, eyeing Leopold with interest. Leopold did like them tall and blonde. And bold. And female. The corners of Leopold's mouth curled upward involuntarily until he realized what he was doing and looked away from the girl before he asked her out instead of Potter.

"_We_ believe that the original intent of the charm was to conceal the bench, not to cause harm to people, and as such, the incident should be treated as an accident," a shorter, red haired girl contradicted, raising an eyebrow at Leopold. Redheads were irresistible as well. They were all fiery and defiant. He did like them fiery and defiant. Leopold again had to stop himself from winking at her and asking her to accompany him and the blonde girl to the Leaky after work.

"Any ideas, Ackerley?" Pucey asked, amusement and boredom in his tone. Leopold sighed as though thinking great thoughts. Really, this was one of the lamest cases they could have put the trainees on. If they actually wanted the kids to learn something, to really understand what it was like to be an Auror, then they should put them on cases involving Dark Magic and vampires. Really glorify the Auror profession so that if and when they were chosen, they'd realize that 99 of the time Aurors sat in their cubicles writing reports. Set them up for a great disappointment that way they'd get used to it at an early age.

"Well, it's hard to determine, isn't it? Without knowing who cast the charm and why, you really can't say if he or she knew the charm would end up chucking people into the road or if he or she thought the bench would stay hidden. And then you need to ask yourself, why hide the bench on the first place? Was there already a jinx on the bench and a weak concealment charm was put on there to fool Auror trainees into thinking it wore off resulting in a rogue bench?" Potter sniggered at this and a few of the female students cleared their throats and pointedly looked away from him, color rising in their cheeks. "And finally, you need to wonder about the location. This being a highly concentrated muggle village, was the intent to harm muggles specifically or just anyone who happened to want to rest his feet?" Leopold looked around to make sure they weren't being watched, then pulled out his wand and pointed it at the bench. It shuddered briefly and went still. Many of the trainees were looking at him as though they couldn't believe the power of his deductive reasoning.

"Anyone brave enough to take a seat?" Leopold wondered, glancing at the students. No one answered, a few even stepped back. "How about you, Harry Potter?" Potter's head snapped up at the mention of his name, and he gave Leopold a deeply hate-filled look before stepping forward and slowly sitting down on the bench. Potter couldn't hide the relief on his face that appeared when nothing happened. "I'm offended at your mistrust of my magical abilities. I should give you all homework." Pucey snorted, waving the trainees away.

"All right, we're done for today. Head back to the department and do whatever it is they have you do before you leave for the day." Pucey tossed his clipboard into the air where it vanished. He turned to Leopold as the trainees began to apparate, but Leopold was making his way to Potter, his stomach clenching horribly with every step he took. Potter was still sitting on the bench gazing up at Leopold with an irritated yet bemused look on his face. The remaining trainees stopped what they were doing to watch the scene with fascination.

"Potter, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Er, well I have no plans at the moment. Why?"

"Would you…like to…grab a…drink with me at the Three Broomsticks?" Leopold had to practically pry his teeth apart in order to complete the sentence. He could feel Pucey's eyes on his back and he wanted to apparate to the Antarctic, never to be seen again.

"Ah, um—" Potter hesitated. Leopold could see the small smile he was keeping at bay. Leopold wanted to hit him, a desire which must have reflected in his face, for Potter cleared his throat and nodded. "Sure thing, I'd be glad to." Leopold didn't thank him, he merely walked away from the green eyed braggart back to were Pucey was standing, watching them with his eyebrows arched so high they disappeared into his hairline. Leopold heard the crack of Potter and the others apparating behind him.

"Well, ah, Ackerley. I didn't know you were so inclined." Pucey looked as though he were trying very hard not to burst into a fit of laughter.

"Shut up, Pucey."

"And Potter; you aim low, don't you?"

"Shut up, Pucey."

"Here I was thinking you wanted to teach the class something, but really you were looking for a date."

"The fact that you have yet to shut up shocks and amazes me."

"Is this the mission Shacklebolt gave you? The oh so important task that only you could complete?" Pucey didn't hide his laughter this time; he was doubled over, absolutely consumed by his amusement. Leopold crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the other man to finish. "Shacklebolt is an evil genius."

"Evil doesn't begin to describe him."

"Why did he pick you? Why didn't he at least choose someone whose preferences were apt to sway in that direction? Like Summers."

"That's a question for Shacklebolt. I can't say I know how his twisted mind works."

"Well that's some bad luck, that is. I'd hate to be tied to Potter for a prolonged period of time."

"Too bad the millions of women everywhere who are stalking him don't feel the same way. I wouldn't be in this situation if they did." Pucey shook his head looking no less amused but slightly more sympathetic.

"I'm sorry for your misfortune, mate. We'll be thinking of you during poker night." Leopold rolled his eyes. "Not too much, though. Maybe we'll just take a shot of firewhiskey in your name."

"Hm. I appreciate it. Only true friends care enough to enjoy themselves while you're being tortured."

"The truest."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Roger Davies was smiling cruelly as he walked into the cubicle. Davies rarely did anything cruel, but when he did, it meant that someone was in for the misery of his life. In a way, Davies was much like Shacklebolt, only Davies didn't have nearly as much control over Leopold's life as Shacklebolt did. Leopold wondered which would be worse and started hearing funeral music again.

"Have you seen the memo?" Davies asked carefully, the smile almost painted on his face. Leopold's heart sank.

"No. God, no I didn't. What happened now?"

"The, ah, second part of Auror training begins today."

"The second—you mean when the trainees shadow Aurors? That's nice."

"Yes. Nice. Every Auror gets paired with a trainee, you realize. Every Auror. And you don't pick who you get. Shacklebolt picks. Come now, Ackerely, you weren't in Ravenclaw for your looks." And it hit him. Leopold was now clued in to what Davies was hinting at. And it wasn't, as Leo had previously stated, nice.

"He wouldn't," Leopold breathed. His hand involuntarily clenched on his desk so tightly his knuckles went white. He hoped that Davies was kidding, that Leopold had somehow managed to get the bold blonde or the fiery redhead.

"He would. And he did." Leopold shot up and bolted to the message board. Sure enough, tacked on top of the Auror birthday sheet was a list of the trainees and the Aurors they were to follow around. Taking a deep breath, Leopold scanned the list until he found Harry Potter's name. Directly across from it was…

"Fawcett?" Leopold spun around to the sound of Roger Davies' derisive laughter. Davies was hugging himself, cackling so loudly many curious heads appeared over the tops of cubicles. Leopold wasn't sure if he wanted to hit Davies for giving Leo several mini heart attacks or laugh along with him. "I cannot believe you would do that to your partner and best friend."

"The look on your face—priceless!" Davies leaned against a wall for support, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I wish I could have taken a picture!" Leopold rolled his eyes and turned back to the list to see who he was really supposed to be trailed by.

"Ernie Macmillan. Who is that?"

"I don't know. Some young, bright eyed, hopeful little Auror for you to corrupt." Davies wiped the tears from his eyes, the remnants of his outburst still in his voice. "My goodness, that moment made life worth living."

"I'm glad I could reaffirm your existence. I think I aged ten years in ten seconds. I have a weak heart now. I should retire." The people who had stuck their heads out to see what was going on now shook their heads and returned to their work.

"This poor Ernie Macmillan is going to have to get used to your dramatic mood swings. You're worse than Cho, I swear."

"You owe me a drink."

"Fine, fine. If you're going to be a baby about it." Davies rolled his eyes and turned toward the break room, most likely on the prowl for fresh coffee.

"Wait a minute. Who is your ickle Auror, then?"

"Susan Bones. I hear she's rather adept at defensive magic." Davies winked and continued on his hunt for coffee. Leopold was about to follow when he noticed Harry Potter walk into the department, trailing closely behind Fawcett, who looked shaken. Her spectacles were slightly askew and her brown hair was matted. Upon second glance, Leopold noticed, too, that Potter seemed a bit nervous.

"All right there, Samantha?" Leopold asked kindly. "Potter." His address was not as kind to Potter, who seemed to notice the coolness in Leopold's voice and acknowledged the greeting with a scowl.

"I was before I was paired off with this abnormality," Fawcett answered, furiously. She turned to Potter, her expression softening a fraction. "I don't mean anything unkind by it, but you must admit, that's not normal."

"I have admitted it. How could I deny it?" Potter replied, tartly.

"What happened?" Leopold inquired, trying not to look highly interested and amused. He settled for looking curious.

"It was just a broom!" Fawcett burst out, angrily. "It was just a broom made for riding and perhaps other things, but not for eating people!"

"A people eating broom?"

"One of my…admirers heard that I lost my broom last year and hadn't had a chance to replace it so she sent me another one in the post," Potter explained, eyeing Fawcett carefully. "But apparently it was bewitched to bring me straight to her. However the charm was poorly cast and it backfired. It started chasing Miss Fawcett around and er—"

"Took a chunk out of my arm, it did!" Fawcett raised the sleeve of her robes to show a shining white scar from a newly, yet roughly, healed wound. "I couldn't heal it completely because it was Dark Magic, now I have this ugly scar. No offense, Potter." Harry raised an eyebrow, his own scar catching Leopold's attention. He saw Leopold eyeing his forehead and flattened his hair down over it.

"None taken, I suppose," Harry muttered. Leopold wasn't sure if Fawcett heard or not. She was busy frowning down at the scar that stood out vividly against her angry red skin. The more she picked at it, the redder it became.

"There, there, Samantha," Leopold said sweetly, taking Fawcett's hand and gently rubbing the scar. "It's not so bad. Consider it a battle wound."

"From a cursed broom?"

"No one will have to know it was from a broom. Say it was a rogue vampire. You were single handedly defending an orphanage from an escaped troll. You're an Auror, my dear, people will believe whatever you tell them." Fawcett's upset frown slowly turned into a meek smile. "That's better. See, it's less noticeable already." Leopold was suddenly aware that Harry was watching him closely and he instinctively pulled Fawcett closer to him.

"I guess you're right, Ackerley," Fawcett said quietly. She clasped her hand over Leopold's. "You know, I never noticed how blue your eyes are."

"I try to hide it, you see. Their alacrity can be startling to some." Fawcett giggled almost girlishly. Leopold never had any interest in Samantha Fawcett, nor did he find her particularly attractive. She wasn't fiery and defiant or blond and bold. However, for some reason he couldn't stop himself from shamelessly flirting with her, especially with Harry Potter watching them with that unreadable expression on his face.

"Come to the Leaky with me after work. I'll buy you a drink." Leopold sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I have a prior engagement. Can it wait for a few months?"

"Months? What could you possibly be doing for so long?"

"The same thing he usually does; absolutely nothing." Both Leopold and Fawcett looked over at Harry as though they had forgotten he was there. Leo didn't know about Fawcett, but he had been fully aware of Potter's presence during their entire exchange. Leopold couldn't quite say why he was getting such a savage pleasure out of making Potter as uncomfortable as humanly possible. Perhaps Leo had been hanging out with Shacklebolt too much.

"I don't believe you know me well enough to say such a thing, Potter. Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect your superiors?"

"I must have missed that lesson, sorry." Leopold turned back to Fawcett.

"I pity you, Fawcett. He's insufferable." Samantha laughed, letting go of Leopold and brushing down the sleeve of her robes. She straightened up, returning to her usual professionalism. Potter was glaring at them, hands once again shoved into his pockets.

"Well, I'm sure Potter and I will get on fine, as long as he doesn't receive any more cursed transportation. He can't be all bad if he can see how lazy you are at first glance."

"I resent that entirely, but I'll allow it as long as you stay beautiful." Fawcett smirked, shaking her head.

"Come on, Potter. We have to go fill out a report, then we have patrol duty at Azkaban."

"Don't get lost in Azkaban, Potter. There are quite a few lonely wizards there, if you know what I mean."

"I don't, but I ask Merlin not to have you explain it further. The sound of your voice is becoming hardly distinguishable from a harpy's." Fawcett snorted and Leopold regretted flirting with her. She obviously had a horrible sense of humor and Leopold just could not be with someone who had no idea of what was funny and what wasn't. He watched them walk away, resisting the urge to throw a Bat-Bogey Hex at Potter's back.

"Ooh, he hates you," the amused voice of Davies said from behind Leopold. Leopold raised his gaze to the dust covered heavens, still waiting for the answer for what he did to deserve this. "He AKed you with his eyes!"

"Well, I'm not too fond of him either," Leo replied, grabbing the cup of coffee Davies was offering him. Davies smirked, taking a large gulp from his mug.

"The whole world knows that. But who knew Harry Potter had the capacity to hate so strongly? Maybe you're the first. You should be honored, you might go down in the history books for this."

"I pray that isn't the highlight of my life."

"The way you're going, maybe you should pray that it is."

"Watch this, Davies. I'm AKing you with my eyes."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"So, uh, how's life with Fawcett?" Everyone was staring at them. _Everyone_. People were pressing their faces against the windows from outside just to get a glimpse at the spectacle. People were apparating from miles away, hoping to watch them. Leopold began to wish that Harry Potter did actually have the ability to use the killing curse with those cold green eyes of his.

"Fine," Potter said bluntly, pushing his butterbeer bottle between his index fingers. He was looking everywhere but at Leopold, that is, until he caught someone staring at them, then he'd hastily turn back to Leo. He sighed. "And how are you and Ernie getting on?"

"Wonderfully. Macmillan is a very smart guy. Had some words to say about you, as well." Leopold downed the rest of his firewhiskey and practically begged for another.

"They must not have been good or you wouldn't be mentioning it now."

"Your opinion of me is highly corrupted," Leopold replied, mildly offended. "It was quite the opposite, actually. He mentioned that you taught him some rather useful spells. Things of that nature. I wasn't really paying attention. Talks a lot, he does."

"Hm. I can see how that could be annoying." They lapsed into their third awkward silence. Leopold began making a list of places he'd much rather be than there. In a cage with a hungry dragon was surprisingly high on that list. It suddenly struck Leopold how long and arduous this was going to be if he and Potter didn't kiss and make up soon.

"NOT LITERALLY!"

"What?" Harry stared at him with a mixture of fear and confusion. As did a few people in their immediate vicinity.

"Did I really shout that out loud?" Leopold asked as he gulped down the firewhiskey that had just been placed hesitantly down in front of him and ordered another.

"Yeah, you really did." Harry eyed the now empty glass and looked as though he wanted to stop Leopold from drinking anymore, if only to prevent another confusing outburst.

"Embarrassing." Leopold leaned forward so as not to be overheard by all the straining ears in the building. "What I meant to say was we need to somehow make this work, Potter, or this is going to be a difficult couple of months. We don't like each other, that's a given. I suppose we got off on the wrong foot, so to speak—"

"You've told everyone you've spoken to that I'm intolerable."

"That's just a figure of speech."

"I think you may have told _me_ that I'm intolerable."

"Oh, don't be so sensitive. I'm sure you've said many a harsh word about me to your friends as well."

"I try not to think about you when you're not near me. And when you're near me. Or at all."

"You're a mean drunk, Potter."

"I'm not drunk."

"All right, all right. Your hatred for me burns to such an extent that you blot out my existence. The thing is, I do exist and I'm supposed to be existing with you. Perhaps as a husband and wife crime fighting team. I don't quite know what Shacklebolt has in mind." Harry almost swallowed a mouthful of butterbeer through his nose as he attempted to stifle his laughter. Leopold smiled in satisfaction. Potter was far more human when he was genuinely laughing instead of snorting derisively.

"It's moments like that when I forget about how obnoxious you are," Harry said, laughter thick in his voice.

"Well, if you were around me more often, those moments would overcome the obnoxious ones." Leopold drank his newest firewhiskey a bit slower than the last ones. This was either because he was far too inebriated to do anything quickly or because he wasn't completely loathing being around Potter.

"That's good to know, at least," Harry smiled, making Leopold grin clumsily again. The bloke's smile was infectious for some reason. "I will agree that we inadvertently got off on the wrong foot. But you didn't make things better by slandering my good name."

"My friend, I don't believe there's anything on this planet that could slander your good name."

"I don't know, hanging around with the likes of you may do the trick." Leopold gasped, putting his hand to his chest. Harry leaned forward looking intensely worried. "What? What happened?"

"Did Harry Potter just make a joke?" Harry shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Let us toast to becoming friends."

"And our future husband and wife crime fighting business."

The toast was one of the last things Leopold could remember from that night. He sort of remembered hopping on a table with a few waitresses and dancing to the newest Weird Sisters song. And he could vaguely remember taking a line of firewhiskey shots with a kid who said he'd just left Hogwarts two month before. Leopold had decided that they needed to take a shot for every year the kid had been at the school. And he maybe remembered Potter dragging him out of the Three Broomsticks to a chorus of cheers and jeers from his drunken companions. But that was it. And he knew he had to have done a lot more than that because when he woke up the next morning with a raging headache and a peculiar aversion to light, his robes were torn, he was spooning a bottle of butterbeer, and he had no idea where he was.

"Oh dear god, why did I do that to myself?" he muttered, refusing to open his eyes again. He placed the cold side of the bottle up to his forehead and willed the headache away.

"I believe the second round of shots was for Kingsley Shacklebolt, but that may have been the third. All the other drinks you kindly had in honor of me." Leopold slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice, hesitating before opening his eyes. The room was fairly dark, though, and he was so grateful for it he would have given half the gold in his vault to keep it that way.

Harry was leaning against the doorframe in a pair of green pajamas with golden snitches splashed all over them. The sight made Leopold chuckle softly, an action which he regretted instantly as a wave of nausea threatened to overpower him.

"At least I thought of you during my debauchery. Although my downward spiral may have been caused by you as well."

"Another honor I will treasure for the rest of my life." Leopold had closed his eyes again, but he could hear the smile in Harry's voice. "Can I get you anything?"

"Anything that will get rid of this headache. The nausea I can handle for the time being."

"All right. I take it food is out, then."

"Oh Merlin, yes." Harry laughed softly, turning to leave the room. "Are we in Grimmauld Place, currently?"

"We are. I didn't know where you lived exactly, or else I would have taken you there. I hope you don't mind."

"I'd much rather vomit in someone else's house than my own." Harry smirked and left, presumably to grab a potion or whatever he had on hand to heal the pounding force that was trying to break through Leopold's skull.

Harry returned a few minutes later with a cup of Invigoration Draught and some toast. It was like seeing an angel. A messy headed, pajama wearing, bespectacled angel.

"I figured you'd want to eat eventually," he said, nodding at the toast. Leopold took the steaming cup and drank deeply. The effects of the potion took hold of him instantly and he felt as though he could possibly face the world now.

"Bless you, Harry Potter."

"Oh, so now you sing my praises. Quite a turn from being intolerable."

"A man can change his mind, can't he?"

"Well, as you're changing your mind, I'll be changing my clothes. You know where the kitchen is if you need anything. Or if you ask nicely, Kreacher could get it for you." Leopold wasn't sure if Harry was joking or not, but he nodded anyway and waved Harry out. Who or what Kreacher was didn't quite matter to him at the moment. What mattered was drinking the potion before the vomit that was threatening to come forth…came forth.

Once he reached the bottom of the cup, Leopold looked and felt significantly better than he had minutes prior. Curiosity replaced his stepped on by a giant feeling and he decided to venture out for some food more filling than a few pieces of toast, perhaps discover this Kreacher fellow and see if he could cook.

As soon as Leopold stepped out of the room, however, he realized he really had no idea how to get around in this very large and very dark house. The feeling that he'd suddenly be attacked from behind by something lurking in the multitude of shadows didn't help.

"Harry?" Leo stage whispered in a darkened hallway. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to speak at a normal volume. "Harry Potter, boy who lived? Mr. Chosen One? I am rather uncomfortable in your dark and depressing house and require assistance. I fear that my Auror powers cannot save me here." Leopold heard a sound that was distinctly like that of a wardrobe closing and he headed in that direction. He came to a door labeled "Sirius" that was open slightly. He knocked before pushing it open.

Harry was standing in the middle of the room struggling into a maroon pullover and dressed only in jeans. His room was somehow flooded with sunlight, most of which seemed to gravitate toward him causing his tan body to glow vaguely in an eerily heavenly sort of way. He peeked out from underneath the pullover and looked at Leopold curiously, like a dog trying to understand human speech.

"What's up?" He asked, continuing to wrestle with the pullover. Words seemed to fail Leopold at the moment as he stared at Potter's sunlight enhanced torso. How did he get so muscular? Was it all the Quidditch? Perhaps Leopold should think of taking up the sport. Or any sport. Was the tan from Quidditch, too? Was it an all over tan? "Hello? Ackerley!" Potter threw a shoe at Leopold, suddenly making him realize that he had been staring at Potter long after he'd managed to put on the pullover and a pair of trainers.

Embarrassed, Leopold cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

"Sorry. I'm still feeling a bit nauseous. And it didn't help seeing your half naked body,"

"To be fair, you did barge into my room unannounced and uninvited."

"You always point out the small details, don't you, Potter?"

"Call it a flaw in my character."

"One of many." Harry grinned, strolling out of the room but not before "accidentally" bumping into Leopold on the way. Leopold's arm tingled as though he were suffering from the beginnings of a painful bout of frostbite. He stared at Potter's back before it was engulfed by the darkness of the hallway.

"I don't appreciate being insulted in my own house. Especially before I've had a proper breakfast," Harry said from the top of the staircase. Leopold hurried after him so as not to be stranded upstairs in Potter's desolate abode.

"You don't do indignant well. You need more feeling in it. Perhaps say how outraged you are at the injustice of being rudely insulted in your own dwelling on an empty stomach. Really dress it up a bit." Harry glanced back at Leo as they tromped down the stairs. He had that contagious smile on his confusingly tan face again.

"Wow. Your command of flowery words astounds me," he said with a laugh. Leopold felt himself smile and was glad that Potter went back to looking forward. He couldn't count on the inconsistent darkness of the house to hide it.

"I think we may need to hire a decorator. This house is on the brink of being unlivable."

"You complain so much, Ackerley, I wonder if you annoy even yourself."

"Sometimes. It depends on my mood."

"And besides, who is this 'we'? Last I checked this is my house."

"And the last I checked Kingsley Shacklebolt was unceremoniously throwing us together in a situation that would be otherwise hilarious if it were not happening to me," Leopold said, ducking as they passed under a display of shriveled house elf heads. Somehow the urge to vomit rose in his throat again.

"No, it's still pretty hilarious. In fact, I think it's more hilarious because of how much it bothers you."

"I'm glad my pain amuses you."

"Why are you so put out by it? Are you afraid you may grow to like me? Maybe even, Merlin forbid, become friends with me?"

"Oh don't flatter yourself, Potter. You have a lot to learn about the world." Harry raised his eyebrow and laughed bitterly.

"Do I, now? And what made the two years you have on me turn you all sage and knowledgeable, whereas I, after saving the wizarding world and indirectly, the muggle world, am completely ignorant?"

"It's not fair throwing world saving into it. Anyone can win an argument if he just happened to be humankind's savior." They reached the kitchen and Leopold flopped down in a chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Harry eyed him in slight irritation before calling for his house elf to make them breakfast.

"Ah, but it's the only tool I have, you see. I hate to lose arguments."

"The Chosen One is a cheater! I shall alert the _Daily Prophet_ at once and demand the ministry take away your awards and accolades."

"But the awards and accolades are what I live for!" Harry exclaimed in exaggerated shock and fright. Against his better judgment, Leopold had to laugh over his plate of eggs and sausage.

"Well, I do appreciate your hospitality, Potter, however it is Saturday."

"Yeah. And?"

"On Saturdays, I visit my parents." Leopold shifted uncomfortably as Harry scrutinized him over the top of his glasses.

"Oh. Where do they live?"

"Brighton."

"Ah. Nice place," Harry replied, not quite looking at Leo. He started shoveling eggs into his mouth. Leopold noticed the change in Potter's voice, however could not say why it had happened.

"Yeah. Do you have anything planned for today?"

"No. I might go see Ron and Hermione later."

"Well that's ludicrous. Everyone should have plans on Saturday. Even if it's just planning to lie on the couch all day. How about this? My mother is, if I do say so myself, the most fantastic cook in all of England. She would love to feed one more person, she always makes too much food anyway when Stewart isn't home. Why don't you come visit them with me?" Leopold wasn't quite sure why he threw out this pity invitation; it just sort of slipped out of his mouth on its own accord. Nevertheless, Harry had taken care of him the night before and hadn't yet complained about it, he deserved something in thanks. Besides, Leo's father would love to tell people that the famous Harry Potter graced their little house with his presence. Harry continued to feed himself eggs for a moment before responding.

"No, that's all right. Thanks, though," he said, quietly.

Although Leopold hadn't intended on inviting Potter to his home, it stung slightly that the kid could so flippantly decline the friendly gesture without even giving Leopold the satisfaction of looking at him. But considering Leo had asked out of pity, he really had no right to be upset. Except he was. Very much so.

"Oh. All right then. Enjoy your Saturday, won't you?" Leo said through clenched teeth. He forced a friendly smile. "Thanks again for everything. I will see you at work on Monday." Without waiting for a reply from Potter, Leo turned and hurried out of the house. He wasn't sure why Potter's blatant rejection of his good deed was so irksome, he just knew that it was and that he would have given anything to punch Harry hard in the face. At the same time, Leo was slightly afraid that this rejection meant that Harry didn't want to be friends in the near future.

Harry Potter was a confusing creature and Merlin be damned, that was irritating.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The main problem, as Leopold saw it, with the situation he was currently in, was the fact that he was gradually finding it harder and harder to dislike Harry Potter. No matter how much he tried, how much he attempted to find annoying characteristics, how much Leopold dwelled on the unruliness of Potter's hair or the discordant dwelling Potter called home, Leopold found himself smiling at Harry's sarcasm. He found himself telling an unnecessary amount of ridiculous jokes in hopes that Harry would laugh in approval. And although Leopold continuously reminded himself of how much of a prat he was being, he couldn't stop.

Leopold Ackerley wanted to be friends with Harry Potter.

He wanted to go out drinking with Potter. He wanted to pick up witches at the Leaky with Potter. He wanted to play a game of Exploding Snap with Potter and go to a Quidditch match and other things male buddies did.

It was both horrifying and exciting at the same time. Potter had some sort of hold on him, almost like magic. And this is where the problem arose. Leopold had enjoyed hating Harry Potter. "Potter" had become synonymous with intolerable, insufferable, obnoxious, and any other synonym Leo could come up with at the time that meant the same thing as pain in the ass. But now, Leopold could only muster up a vague dislike at the mention of Potter's name. Sometimes he couldn't even manage that, and occasionally redirected his travels to somehow incorporate the location he knew Potter to be, just to say some snarky comment pertaining to Potter's dubious grooming habits.

But as Potter had never given any indication that Leopold was anything more than a mild nuisance forced upon him by that dastardly fellow, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Leo wasn't sure if Potter was as tired with the false hatred as he was.

"So you're developing a big man crush on Harry Potter. I'm sure you're not the first. Nor will you be the last," Roger Davies said, waving his hand dismissively. They were standing at the site of a break in that had apparently involved a baby dragon, some illegal cauldrons, and a potion that made the entire area smell of rotting cheese. They were supposed to be gathering evidence, but they were using this opportunity to waste as much time as possible so they didn't have to go back to the office. Their mini Aurors, Ernie and Susan, were inside the building, probably being a lot more productive than they currently were.

"It's not a man crush, why do you have to gay it up like that?" Leo kicked a pebble out of his way and used his wand to push a large chunk of rubble aside. The dragon had done a number to the building; half of it had collapsed and the other half was about ready to go any moment.

"That's really the only way to describe it." Roger shrugged, flicking his wand at an intact part of wall and sending it flying along the grass. "I don't particularly care. I'm sure Potter can be charming when he tries hard enough. I mean he seduced that Weasley girl somehow, didn't he? She was something else, eh? I wonder if she's still single."

"Probably. She broke it off with Potter because she didn't have time. I'm sure she's more than willing to have a fling while on the road." Roger gave Leo a sly smile as they both lifted another rather large chunk of bricks.

"You insult her honor, Leo. Try and get her location out of Potter, will you? I may just pay her a visit."

"I will not. Anyway, it's not a man crush. I thought he wanted to be friends. He seemed willing enough after I sort of apologized."

"You don't need anymore friends, Leo. You have us. Besides, he's an arrogant Gryffindor and no one needs that in his life."

"Not while I have an arrogant Ravenclaw right in front of me."

"I resent that," Roger responded, mildly indignant. "But I'm serious. If he's going to be jerking you around, playing you for a fool like that, then you don't need him. Make friends with Macmillan." They both laughed at this, spotting Macmillan, through a broken window, fumbling around inside the building. Susan Bones seemed slightly annoyed as she gestured at something the two aurors couldn't see. Macmillan wasn't exactly incompetent, however he thought he knew more than he actually did and that tended to result in him landing up in situations he couldn't properly handle. He was easy enough to get along with, though, and Leo was glad for that. There were worse people he could have been paired with.

"I figured that since we'd be spending a lot of unwanted time together, a friendship would be a good idea. I suppose I was wrong."

"It happens to the best of us, mate. I'm sure I've been wrong once or twice in my brief yet handsome existence." They stopped pushing debris around and took to keeping their whole attention on the budding young aurors. They were fully arguing now, much to the amusement of both Leo and Roger.

"Drink after work?" Roger snorted at Leopold's unnecessary question.

"Of course. Are you buying?"

"No. You still owe me from that horrible prank you pulled on me."

"Oh yeah," Roger began to laugh. "I forgot about that. That was prime."

"Shut up."

"I really wish I had a camera on me at the time. I want to relive that moment over and over again." Roger looked as though he were on the verge of breaking down into a hysterical fit of laughter at the mere thought of Leopold's horrified face. Leopold vowed that at the first hint of a cackle, he would indeed punch Roger without hesitation.

"I'm putting in a request for a new partner. As soon as we get back, I'm talking to Shacklebolt."

"You don't willingly talk to Shacklebolt, so shut up," Roger replied with a smirk. "Anyway, I think we've wasted enough time here, don't you?" Leopold looked at his watch; it was about ten minutes to quitting time.

"Perhaps. Do you really want to break up their bonding session?" The two looked over at the arguing trainees. Susan was brandishing her wand in a threatening manner as Ernie stood defiantly with his hands folded across his chest. "Five galleons says he shags her by the end of the week."

"That's the second woman whose honor you've defamed," Roger said, scolding. "Make it ten."

"_Sonorus,_" Leo muttered, pointing his wand at his throat. "All right, you two. It's time to head back to the department. There are drinks to be had." The duo jumped at the amplified voice, then turned on the spot and apparated. Roger and Leo followed.

"Ackerley! My office, now." Before they even overcame the uncomfortable sensation that occurred when one apparated, Shacklebolt stuck his head out of his office door and summoned Leo. Roger met Leo's desperate gaze and shrugged, jerking his thumb backward indicating he'd wait for Leo in their cubicle.

"One of these days I will change my name and not tell him," Leo muttered, heading over to Kingsley Shacklebolt's office.

"I'm reassigning your trainee."

"Ernie? But we were getting on so well." Which was true. When Leo wasn't watching him almost get the stuffing beaten out of him courtesy of Susan Bones, Leo was giving Ernie reports to fill out and coffee to fetch. Ernie knew just the right amount of sugar Leo took with his coffee and to have to train someone else to get it exactly right seemed like an insurmountable feat.

"Yes, well, I have received a complaint."

"Ernie complained about me? I'm shocked and hurt." Leo frowned, ready to pout in seconds.

"No, Macmillan did not complain about you. Fawcett complained about Potter."

"Ah. I didn't realize Fawcett didn't like her men surly and bespectacled. That's good news for us cheerful and perfect visioned men, eh?" Leo winked at Shacklebolt, who looked ready to pull off Leo's eyelid. "Sir. What does this mean for me, sir?"

"I'm switching Macmillan for Potter. You're supposed to be guarding him anyway, so this should make things easier for you."

"Why didn't you just pair me with Potter in the first place, sir?"

"I pair trainees with Aurors of equal or slightly greater magical ability. Fawcett is an exceptional Auror, therefore, Potter was the natural choice. You, while incredibly intelligent and mildly talented, are mediocre, so you were given an average trainee," Shacklebolt said, in a manner that suggested he was very much ready to end the conversation and wouldn't take no for an answer. Leopold tried ignoring the fact that he was just told that he was not as magically talented as Harry Potter.

"Right. That makes sense, sir. Well, I suppose I should break the news to Ernie. He will, indeed, be rather heartbroken."

"You aren't going to fight me on this? Throw a few complaints my way? Make me wish I never hired you?" The truth was, while Leo's initial reaction was to rant and rave about the injustice of it all, after he thought about it, he thought he could tolerate having Potter as his tiny trainee. Even if the man would be hopeless with fetching coffee.

"I've long since learned that arguing with you, concerning matters of the Harry Potter variety, is futile. But I will say, and I mean this in the most respectful way possible, I hate you, sir." Shacklebolt smiled cruelly, returning Leo's previous wink.

"Ah. That's much better."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Well, Potter, we're going to St. Mungo's because one of the men involved in the dragon incident the other day is being treated there for major burns, among other things. Does that answer your question?"

"I never asked a question."

"I could see in your eyes that you wanted to, though. That's the key to being an Auror; always be a few steps ahead."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You really should be taking notes. Anyway, let me do all the talking. Just stand there and continue to be surly. It might intimidate the man." Leo and Potter stood outside the St. Mungo's visitor's entrance, Leo hesitating slightly before making his way inside with Potter following. So far, Potter being his trainee had been anticlimactic. Potter was quiet and observant whenever Leopold went out on a case, and never really favored Leo with a sarcastic comment or joke unless they were alone. Leopold was slightly irritated by this, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it except grin and bear it.

Potter slipped into his quiet dignity mode the moment they walked into the threshold of the hospital.

Leopold was instantly reminded of how much he hated hospitals.

There were several wizards missing various limbs, all of whom had said limbs held in jars or cups so they could be reattached. There was a witch and her small child, the child emitting squeaky hiccoughs which released bubbles that turned into flowers upon popping. And there was a witch with, what looked like, half a broomstick sticking out of an area Leopold was positive broomsticks didn't belong. And that was just in the entryway. Leo couldn't imagine what he was going to find once he entered the hospital proper. The unmistakable smell of sickness and potion began to slowly choke Leo.

"Let's finish this quickly and get the hell out of here," he muttered, holding the door open for Potter. Potter smirked as he passed.

"Afraid of hospitals, are we?"

"Hardly. I would just much rather spend my time among the healthy," Leo replied, resisting the urge to push Harry into a man sporting many contagious looking sores all over his arms and legs. He may have been uncomfortable in hospitals, but he was not averse to putting people in them. They headed to the lift to take them to the first floor: Creature Induced Injuries.

"Wait here, Potter. I'll see if we're in the right place of if he's been moved," Leopold said as they stepped out of the lift. He headed over to a dark haired witch who had her back to him. "Excuse me—Cho! My dear, I didn't realize you were working today!"

"Leo! Oh, Leo, it's so good to see a friendly face. It's been a long day already," Cho said amicably, giving Leo a peck on the cheek. He couldn't help but notice that she did, in fact, look as though she had had a long day and it was only noon. "What brings you here? You didn't get injured on the job, did you?"

"No no, nothing like that. I've just come to talk to one of your patients."

"Well, all right," Cho smiled broadly. "Who's that with you?" Leopold was suddenly and violently reminded of Cho and Harry's previous, albeit brief, tryst. He instantly wished he left Potter in the waiting room next to the man with the sores.

"No one of consequence. Now about that patient—"

"Is that Harry Potter?" Cho exclaimed, walking forward. Leopold rolled his eyes.

"Oh him. I thought you meant the man with the rather large chunk of flesh taken out of his abdomen," Leo replied, however Cho didn't hear him for she was already face to face with Potter, hugging him as though he were an old friend. Potter looked slightly surprised by this greeting, yet hugged her briefly all the same. "Don't mind me, I'll just go do Auror related things." Leopold looked around the ward, picked the most burned person out of the bunch and walked over to him.

"Are you Francis Withers?" Leopold barked at the man. He was covered head to toe in bandages, reminding Leopold of some sort of ancient dragon angering mummy.

"Ah, well yes. You're an Auror, then?"

"Yes. Now I'm going to ask you questions and, Merlin help you, if I suspect that you have lied to me, you will need more than bandages."

Leopold conducted the inquiry while watching Cho and Harry out of the corner of his eye. Something deep inside him wanted to lunge at the black haired git and make him wish he didn't know Cho's name.

"Violence is not the answer," Leopold muttered aloud.

"I realize that now, but the man shouldn't have wandered onto my property like that," Mr. Withers answered. Leopold snapped his attention back to the man. It was lucky for Leo that he had a working quick quotes quill and the bandaged man had no problem talking to someone who wasn't paying attention. Or he couldn't see through the bandages well enough to notice that Leopold wasn't watching him.

"Did I say that out loud?"

"Er, yes?"

"Of course I did. Well, that's all for now. Someone will be in contact with you regarding your trial date. Keep away from dragons until then." Leopold stood up without waiting for the man to reply and headed over to Cho and Harry, who were now laughing at something that was obviously too funny to have been said in a hospital.

"Leo, why didn't you tell me you were partners with Harry? What happened to Roger?"

"Nothing happened to Roger, I'm still partners with him. Harry is my trainee. He's supposed to follow me around and do trainee things." Harry frowned at this, but Cho laughed.

"Oh I know the feeling. I was just recently taken off of trainee healer status. When you become a full auror, Harry, we'll celebrate."

"How's Michael, Cho?" Leopold interrupted Harry before he could reply. Harry frowned again and Leo smiled evilly. He hoped Harry had a vivid picture of Michael Corner with both Cho and Ginny Weasley.

"Your guess is as good as mine. I haven't seen him since the last time we all got together, you know. What was that, a week ago?"

"Week and a half, I believe."

"Time just flies by. When's the next family get together, my love?" Cho grinned sweetly, melting Leo's anger. Cho seemed to have that same mysterious ability that Potter had to make Leo smile even when he didn't want to. Harry was watching them moodily making Leopold's smirk even wider. He took Cho's hand and kissed it gently.

"I'll talk to the others and let you know." Cho giggled, pulling her hand out of Leo's grasp.

"That'd be fantastic. Now go before you get me sacked," she said, shooing them out of the ward but not before giving Leopold another kiss on the cheek. Harry looked at her hopefully, yet all she gave him was a small pat on the back. "It was nice to see you, Harry. Good luck with your training."

"Thanks. It was nice seeing you, too," Harry mumbled grumpily. Cho smiled again and hurried back into the ward. Harry stared off at her for a second before he realized that Leopold had continued walking and was already on the lift pressing the button for the ground level. Harry had to do an awkward skip jump to catch it before it took off.

"What was that about?" He asked, angrily massaging the two fingers he'd stuck between the grates to stop them from closing.

"What was what about?" Leopold responded innocently, turning his attention to a leaflet spellotaped to the wall. If he could believe what he read, there was quite a handsome couch for sale.

"That! All that rubbish you did with Cho."

"What rubbish? Cho is my friend, Potter. You know what a friend is, do you not? Surely amongst the throngs of admires at your every beck and call you have one or two people you can call a friend," Leopold replied, keeping the bitterness out of his voice.

"You have more mood swings than a pregnant woman," Potter said, glancing away with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Have you ever seen or spoken with a pregnant woman before, Potter?"

Potter's stoic silence and almost violent hand-to-pocket shoving gave Leopold the answer he was looking for. With a triumphant grin on his face, Leopold strode out of the lift and straight into a crowd of women.

"What the—?"

"It's Harry Potter!" One of the women shouted when Potter had a foot out of the lift. Potter seemed to freeze at the mention of his name and the sheer volume of women crammed into that one area. And before he could do anything about it, Leopold was unceremoniously shoved aside by the surging throng of excited witches. He was intensely confused for a moment before he realized that the crowd was literally ripping Harry's clothes off. Harry was trying to remain clothed while feebly shooting spells in all directions.

"_Stupefy_!" Leo shouted, pointing his wand at the nearest witch. As she fell, a few turned, distracted by the unexpected attack. That left Leo ready and willing to use another spell. "_Protego!_" The invisible force field comically stopped the women in their tracks. A few of them shouted angrily, wondering where the protection had come from.

"Ladies, ladies. While I'm sure the delicious allure of Mr. Potter is probably overwhelming, I must ask you to behave yourselves. This is a hospital. The people here have enough problems as it is."

"Who are you then?" A vicious, brown haired witch inquired.

"I am a ministry certified au—"

"He's my boyfriend," Harry called out suddenly from behind the shield. All heads turned in Potter's direction, including Leopold's. Harry stood there defiantly, pulling on the ripped sleeve of his pullover. A shocked gasp rippled through the crowd as the women looked from Harry to Leo. Leo prayed for a dragon to burst through the doors and swallow him whole in a torrent of flame. The closest he got was a fiery haired witch whipping out her wand threateningly, smoke practically pouring from her nostrils.

"That's not true. _Witch Weekly_ said he just broke up with that Weasley girl of the Harpies." Leopold, still at a complete loss for words, couldn't think of anything to say in reply. He was staring at Potter in blatant open-mouthed shock.

"Well that makes sense, then, doesn't it? Why else would she break it off with him?" Another witch demanded. All the witches began talking at once. Leo took this opportunity to shepherd them out of St. Mungo's. When he returned to the waiting room, everyone was gazing at him. Or at Potter. Or at him and his apparently new boyfriend Potter.

"You—why—you are a menace to society," Leopold muttered as they walked out of the hospital. Potter actually had a smile on his face and shoved his hands in his pockets with much less force than he had previously. "Why did you say that?"

"Why not? It, and we, was supposed to come out eventually, so why not then? There was a crowd; it'll probably be in the afternoon edition of the _Prophet._ At this rate we won't even have to fake a marriage."

"But—you—I—you are a _menace_ to society!" Harry smiled wider. He seemed to be taking an unnatural amount of enjoyment from this situation. Leopold couldn't fathom why this would be.

"Thank you for saving me back there, by the way. I was caught off guard, you know."

"Understandably so. You were put under my care for a reason, Potter, don't seem so surprised that I have the ability to perform magic. They don't let just anyone become aurors, though if they're considering you, they must be loosening their standards."

"Yeah. The saving the world thing is only for the most dismal of wizards."

"There you go again throwing the world saving in my face," Leopold responded. The pair laughed shakily; this newfound truce had a tenuous hold on them and neither one seemed keen on breaking it at that moment. "Come on. Let's get something to eat. We'll call it our second date. I'll even let you pay."

"You're such a gentleman."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"No no, you should get married now! Don't you see, the plan is working perfectly! They'll leave Potter alone in no time." Leo stared at Shacklebolt in disbelief. Harry looked just as skeptical, although not as upset.

"That's…ridiculous logic, sir."

"Would you prefer to watch Harry Potter be torn limb from limb by ravenous females?" Leo raised his eyebrows, contemplating this. He hesitated for so long, Harry leaned forward and slapped Leopold unceremoniously on the back of his head.

"How much does Potter really need his limbs?" He asked, rubbing his now sore head. Harry and Shacklebolt ignored this question.

"But, sir, if we get married—can we—no one will believe it, right?" Harry asked, a note of hope in his voice.

"Everyone will believe it if we have a public ceremony. No! A private ceremony that we only tell one reporter about," Shacklebolt said, looking vaguely excited. Leopold glanced at Harry, who glanced back and shrugged. That was not the response he wanted. Why wouldn't Harry argue? Why was he going along with this? "The nastiest reporter we can find."

"Merlin. I cannot believe my life right now. Can we at least get a free honeymoon?"

"Get out of my office, Ackerley. And I want you two married by tomorrow or you're both sacked." Leo stood up and slunk out of the office, Harry, far less despondent, following behind him.

"What did the producer of Leopold's misery say this time?" Roger asked as they entered the cubicle. He was gleefully reading _Witch Weekly_, highlighting his favorite parts. Leo pulled out his wand and blew up the magazine without hesitation. The three of them looked up at the shreds of paper fluttering around them. "Hey!" Leopold rolled his eyes, throwing himself in his chair. Harry stood at the entrance, leaning against the wall.

"He said Leo and I are to be married. By tomorrow." Roger spit out the mouthful of coffee he had been consuming. It sprayed all over his desk and part of Leo's. Leo leapt aside making noises of extreme revulsion. "That was disgusting, by the way."

"Married?!" Roger began to laugh heartily. He pushed his cup aside, clutching his stomach in exaggerated mirth. Leo glanced at Harry, who looked to be on the verge of laugher himself. Leo decided that he needed to make more friends who would be more sympathetic to his plight. "That man is an evil genius!"

"I hate you sometimes, Roger."

"Don't hate me, hate Matchmaker Shacklebolt." Roger redoubled his laughter. "I must tell the guys about this. Cho will want to do your hair!"

"You're my best friend, Roger, but I will not hesitate to bat-bogey hex you right here, right now."

"You are an angry groom, Leo. I'm sorry you have to live with this, Potter. But, you know, no one will question you if he suddenly drops dead, you being the chosen one after all."

"I don't quite want to resort to murder yet," Harry replied, smirk on his face.

"Why are you two enjoying this?" Leo whined.

"Because you're not enjoying it," Harry and Roger answered. Leo groaned at the conspiracy, head drooping.

"You are horrible people."

"And yet you're stuck with both of us for the rest of your life," Roger responded. "Should we go get you some new dress robes? Oh! A bachelor party! I have to owl Terry!" Roger started searching for a piece of clean parchment and a quill.

"You make me so sad," Leo muttered, glancing from Harry to Roger, both of whom looked as though they were having the time of their lives. "Both of you.

"Stop being such a child. I don't hear Harry complaining, and really, he's got the raw end of the deal." Roger started gathering up the pieces of his exploded magazine to repair it. Leo waited until he was done to blow up the magazine again. Roger glared at Leo mutinously.

"If you're so fond of Harry, why don't you marry him?" Leo shot back, resisting the urge to blow up Roger's coffee mug as well.

"Are you kidding? I could do better than Harry Potter, if I do say so myself." Roger haughtily leaned back in his chair. Leo laughed despite himself.

"Hey! You're supposed to be on my side," Harry said indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Being on your side doesn't mean I have to be in love with you, Potter. That's Leo's job." Leo cut his laughter short as Roger favored them with another one of his over exaggerated, ingratiating belly laughs. Leo's lip curled in disgust and Roger stopped abruptly when he glanced at the look on Leo's face. "Al right, all right. Enough fooling around. We have a wedding to plan."

"Have you been experimenting with potions again, Roger? We're going to get an official, some stupid nosy reporter and that's it. A five minute process, at the most."

"How romantic," Roger muttered. "You sure do know how to show a guy a good time."

"One more comment and the healers will have to _find _your limbs to reattach them." Roger dismissed the threat with an unconcerned wave of his hand. Harry snorted derisively, watching the exchange with amusement. He didn't say anything, though, perhaps for fear of dismemberment. "I'm not kidding, Roger. We're only doing this because Shacklebolt told us to, there's no need to make a huge production out of it."

"You're no fun, Leo, you really aren't. Can we at least celebrate afterwards? You know we love excuses to celebrate."

"We'll see." Leo rolled his eyes, pulling out a sheet of parchment. He set to work writing to the various people who needed to be informed of his and Harry's impending bonding. "Where's your trainee?"

"Storage. I told her to reorganize. I tripped over a shrunken head the other day when I was in there. Almost broke my damn neck," Roger said, looking over Leo's shoulder, shaking his head disapprovingly. Leo snickered, suddenly thinking of a way to get Harry back.

"I see. Harry, go help her."

"What?! I'm not your house elf!" Harry said in outrage.

"Maybe so, but as my trainee, you're required to do as I ask. Who is to say that cleaning out the storage room isn't an important part of your training?" Harry glared at Leo in intense anger. Leo's smile widened as he rolled up his first finished letter.

"That's a load of bollocks! At least let me send that letter or something!"

"Now, now, Potter. You signed a binding magical contract when you began your auror training. You know about those, right? Something tells me you're well acquainted with doing things you don't want to do."

"And getting more and more acquainted with it the longer I associate with you," Potter growled, storming out of the room. Leo snickered to himself.

"You're mean, my friend," Roger said, trying and failing to be reproachful.

"Both you and Shacklebolt have made it your personal missions to make my life miserable. I need to stay cheerful somehow."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Do you, Leopold Anthony, take this…man, Harry James…" Leopold closed his eyes, contemplating the pros and cons in saying no to the officiator and running out of the room. One con was standing next to him, tall and foreboding, looking about ready to curse Leo into oblivion. Roger gave Leo a sharp, amused jab, and Leo reluctantly opened his eyes again. With a sigh, he nodded. He heard the snap of a camera from the photographer who came with the reporter.

"And you, Harry James?" Harry glanced over at Shacklebolt, then at the reporter scribbling away to their left, then at Leo. He raised an eyebrow and gave Leo a little shrug before nodding himself.

"Then I, most confusedly, declare you bonded for life."

"Oh, brilliant!" Roger shouted, clapping exaggeratedly. He dabbed invisible tears from his eyes. "They make such a lovely couple!" Leo resisted the urge to punch Roger soundly in the mouth. He regretted letting Roger convince him to attend the rushed ceremony. He looked down at the ring on his finger and almost felt himself on the verge of real tears.

"Thank you for doing this on such short notice, Augustus," Shacklebolt told the rather bewildered officiator.

"Not a problem, Kingsley, I'm sure I owed you one." Shacklebolt and the officiator began talking amicably.

"Leopold! Harry! Care to give a word to _Witch Weekly_?" The reporter asked excitedly, running up to the newly married couple. Leopold glared at Shacklebolt mutinously.

"_Witch Weekly_? You chose _Witch Weekly_?" He asked through clenched teeth. Shacklebolt looked as though he were hiding an amused smirk.

"It was Davies's idea." Leopold turned his murderous glare to his best friend, who was talking animatedly to the reporter, commenting on how well he knew Leo and how much he was sure Leo would find a wizard to make him happy.

"I hate him. I hate him so much," Leo growled. Harry chuckled, slapping Leo on the back. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. His soft breath brought unwanted chills across Leo's skin. He stopped himself from moving away from Harry.

"Don't let it get you too down, mate. It's only for a little while. Maybe Ginny'll want me back now that I'm off the market." Harry held up his hand and wiggled his ring finger. The ring flashed in the light, causing Leo to look away. This had to be the most embarrassing moment of his life and no one seemed phased.

"Get back to work, Ackerley, Potter, Davies. Davies!" Shacklebolt shouted over to Roger, who was still deep in conversation with the woman who was going to make Leo's life very miserable very soon. Roger waved at Shacklebolt dismissively. "Get back to work, now." There was no mistaking the heavily authoritative note in Shacklebolt's voice. He strode out of the room followed by the officiator. Roger finished up his conversation quickly, exiting with Leo and Harry.

"So what's on the agenda for the rest of the day, gents? I can't say we can top that, now can we?" Roger draped his arms over Leo and Harry's shoulders. Harry smirked and ducked out from under Roger's arm.

"I will break your arm in five seconds, Roger," Leo hissed.

"Honestly, Leo, you're too high strung. Maybe Harry can fix that during your wedding night."

"Oh, sick, Roger, why would you say that?" Harry asked, making a disgusted face and side stepping away from them. Leo rolled his eyes and massaged his temples; he could feel the beginnings of a headache. Roger laughed and headed into the break room to make a cup of coffee. Leo hoped he burned himself a little bit.

"Have they set a trail date for the dragon man, yet?" Roger called from inside. "Let's go busy ourselves with that case for a spell."

"The trial was yesterday. He was sentenced to a week in Azkaban. Where were you when this happened?" Leo replied, staring at the message board. Leo, being a sucker for cheap advertising, wondered, distantly, if he needed a new wardrobe for his flat. For five Galleons, perhaps he'll find a use for it.

"Susan and I were on a case. A few of goblins were claiming that they had to use the Cruciatus curse on a wizard in self-defense. Turns out they were lying." Roger rejoined them with a steaming cup of coffee and they headed to the cubical. "It's noon, want to take a lunch?" Leo nodded vigorously.

"A long lunch. With lots of firewhiskey."

"That ought to make the food taste really good," Harry said sarcastically. "And it's not noon, it's ten. Who taught you to tell time?"

"Someone who was well acquainted with the concept of rounding up while at work. For our purposes, it's noon. And at around noon, it should be almost time to go. If you're going to make it as an Auror, Harry, my man, you really ought to familiarize yourself with our methods of telling time." Roger shook his head as though he were disappointed in Harry. Harry shook his head as though he couldn't believe who he was associating with. "He's your trainee, Leo, that's your responsibility."

"Oh shut up, Roger. Are you ready to leave?"

"Yes, yes. Are you coming, Potter?" Harry sighed as though leaving for lunch early was an enormous ethical decision for him. "Merlin. If it makes you feel better, we'll discuss…" Roger leafed through the papers on his desk. "Aha! We'll discuss this case. A witch and a wizard have been accused of slaying merpeople." Roger shoved the folder into Harry's hands.

"This happened two weeks ago," Harry argued.

"But no one has been able to find them. I'm sure you and your keen problem solving skills will give us the breakthrough we need." Leo snorted as Roger pushed a reluctant Harry out of the cubicle. "Now where is that dear Hufflepuff of mine?"

"You sent her to get your cloak fixed, don't you remember?" Leo reminded him as they stepped into the lift.

"Oh, right. Well, someone will give her something to do when she returns." The lift stopped and they stepped out into the atrium. It was far more crowded than it should have been at ten o'clock in the morning.

"Is it always this busy around now?" Harry asked, slight nervousness tingeing his voice.

"Not usually," Roger replied. "Oh no—" A woman turned and spotted them, crying out to the others. Several cameras flashed and the crowd surged forth.

"What the hell?" Leo shouted over the din. "_Protego_!" That ever so useful invisible wall separated the three of them from the oncoming crowd. They were reporters. They were photographer. They were Harry's vivacious and vicious vixens. They were almost bloodthirsty.

"Merlin! How did they gather so fast?" Roger asked in shock.

"I forgot how quickly news travels in the wizarding world," Harry said, staring wide eyed at the throng.

"Roger, you and Harry should go back upstairs. It's going to be this bad no matter where we go. Looks like we're going to have to each lunch in the cubicle."

"What are you going to do, then?" Roger demanded, stepping in front of Harry protectively as the crowd surged forward again.

"Try to get them out of here before everyone in the ministry kills us." Roger nodded and he and Harry backed into the lift again. Leo magically amplified his voice. "Ladies and gentlemen. While we're very excited at your sudden interest in the Ministry of Magic, we're going to have to ask you to either get a ministry related problem or kindly stop crowding our atrium."

"We want to see Harry Potter and his man!" Someone shouted. Leo tried not to show any irritation at being referred to as Potter's man.

"Mr. Potter is very busy becoming a ministry trained auror. You will be able to see him once you do something illegal."

"Do you have a comment regarding Potter's recent marriage?"

"I can't say that I do. Now move along. I am willing and able to hex you all without fear of punishment." There were a few more protests and cries of outrage from the crowd that Leo continuously shot down. Finally, they slowly filed out of the building.

"What was that about, Ackerley?" Samantha Fawcett asked, coming up to him, staring at the crowd in unadulterated shock.

"It is a long story, Samantha," Leo sighed, watching the last person walk out. "I need a drink. Several drinks." Fawcett eyed him suspiciously before making her way to the lifts. A gold glint caught his eye and he glanced down at the ring on his finger again. It suddenly weighed down his hand as though it were encased in concrete. Was this going to happen to them every day for the rest of their ridiculous marriage? Were they ever going to have a moment's peace or would they have to constantly ward off crazed mobs of Pottermania induced fans?

"No wonder I've never been married before."


	11. Chapter 11 part 1

**Chapter Eleven pt. 1**

Ginny Weasley apparently read _Witch Weekly_. And the _Daily Prophet. _And for some strange reason, _The Quibbler. _Or perhaps everyone she knew read them. Because when Leo opened the door to Grimmauld Place after he and Harry got home from work, she was standing there, very irate, clutching the papers in her hand. The moment she saw a human she growled in rage, threw the papers in Leo's face, and pushed him aside.

Leopold had not seen his picture on the front page of the _Prophet_ since his mishap his first year as an auror when he arrested Shacklebolt. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it, now. However, Ginevra Weasley was making her opinion very known. Leopold was quite sure most of London knew what it was.

"You're GAY?!" A large tacky object went flying through the air.

Leo and Harry ducked. Leo felt a sort of wrongness in using defensive spells against an angry woman who wasn't threatening him. He vowed, though, that if she started hexing, he'd at least protect himself. Harry could deal with his enraged former girlfriend in his own way, but Leo wasn't going to get hurt because Harry liked strong women. It wasn't Leo's fault that Harry hadn't told her about the plan.

"Ginny, just let me explain!"

"AND YOU'RE MARRIED?! How could you do this to me, Harry?"

"It's not what you think!"

"How can it be anything _but_ what I think?" She threw another object, this time aimed more at Harry. Harry jumped out of the way, still trying to get closer to her to calm her down. Leopold moved aside, picking up the various magazines and newspapers Ginny had brought with her. 'Harry Potter's New Chosen One' was the headline on the cover of _Witch Weekly_. Potter looked slightly embarrassed in the picture; he kept sliding in and out of the side. Leopold blatantly refused to stay in sight, and kept being pushed into view by some unknown source. 'The Boys Who Live…Together' was the headline Rita Skeeter came up with for the _Prophet_. Clever woman, that Skeeter. Leopold felt something much like hate toward her. He was fairly positive she and Roger would get along swimmingly.

As embarrassing as it was, nonetheless, Leopold was finding it hard to muster up some indignity.

He wondered if he exhausted his store of outrage at the situation. He should have rationed it out better.

"If you'd stop yelling and throwing things, I'll explain it to you!" Ginny reached for her wand and Leopold decided now was the time to step in.

"Please, Miss Weasley, I know what it looks like, but really, if you let Potter explain you won't feel as apt to hex him," Leopold said gently. Normally, he would have found some reason to touch her, as he did with most women, however she did not seem as though she would take kindly to Leopold being excessively charming. He crossed his arms over his chest, instead, but kept his wand handy.

"You're Leopold, then?" She asked, anger still thick in her voice. She was glaring at the ring on Leo's finger, so intense was her stare that Leo started to feel pain in his hand. She reminded Leo of an infuriated tigress; something that he would have usually found to be attractive as hell, but now just found to be scary.

"If I confirm that I am, in fact, Leopold, will you throw something at me as well?"

"That depends." Leo paused, wondering vaguely if she was joking. She picked up another heavy looking object and Leo dove behind Potter.

"Potter, I believe you owe the young woman an explanation. I will move somewhere that is out of range of Miss Weasley's fearsome wrath and impeccable aim." Harry managed to get close enough to her to steer her into a chair. Leopold excused himself to the kitchen where he busied himself by nosily poking around in cupboards and things.

"Merlin, Potter needs help being a normal human being," Leo muttered after opening up yet another empty cupboard.

"Is there something master's friend would like?" The exceedingly old house elf, whom Leopold had long since discovered was Kreacher, asked kindly.

"Oh. Um, well no, no thank you. I suppose I should be going, anyway. I have no idea why I'm still here in the first place." Leopold bowed awkwardly at the house elf and made his way back upstairs. There was no crazed yelling of a Weasley scorned, so Leo assumed that Potter had managed to explain the situation to his darling without significant loss of limb.

"Knock, knock. I'm entering the room, so whatever indecent activities are going on should end quickly," Leopold said, slowly entering the parlor.

"Shut up, Leo," Potter snapped from within. Leo opened his eyes to find the former couple sitting in opposite sides of the room looking highly disgruntled. Leopold quickly decided it was time to make his exit for a much friendlier atmosphere.

"Rude, Potter. Anyway, I'm on my way out. I will see you at work then, Potter. It was very…frightening to meet you Miss Weasley. If we meet again, I shall bring my armor." Ginny gave him a vivaciously mischievous smirk, which Leopold accepted with a wink. He then turned to leave so that Potter couldn't see the smile on his face.

"I'm leaving, too. Wait for me," came the annoyed voice of Potter from behind him. Leo froze with his hand on the doorknob. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Potter throw Ginny a nasty look that she returned in tenfold, before he stood up and headed for the door. She got up as well, but with more command of her anger, if she had any real anger to begin with.

"Ah, well all right," Leo replied, unsure. Potter brushed past him and out the door. Ginny followed at a much more leisurely pace. "Did you break his heart, my dear?"

"He hates to be wrong," she answered with a slightly amused shrug. "And he has the annoying habit of reverting to first year mode when he is. It's best to leave him alone until he cools down."

"Good to know."

"You seem competent enough. Could you promise me you'll take care of him? I will want him back and I'd prefer he'd be in one piece."

"I can make no guarantees, but as my career relies on Potter remaining alive, you can bet that I will try my hardest." Ginny smiled, patting Leo on the arm.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry about earlier. Nothing hit you, I hope? I was aiming more for him, you know."

"I have faith that the Harpies are in good hands with you around, but I did manage to dodge the assault by hiding behind Potter." They laughed, walking out the door of number 12 to find Harry glaring moodily at the house. His temper seemed to flare as they walked out in obviously better moods than he himself was in.

"I do hope your face stays like that, Potter. It'll make my job much easier." Ginny snorted. Harry just scowled more.

"Nice to meet you, Leopold. I hope we meet again in better circumstances," Ginny said, benevolently.

"As do I, Miss Weasley."

"It's Ginny." With that, she turned on the spot and vanished with a crack.

"You two seem to be awfully friendly," Potter growled as Leo came up to him.

"Well, you see, Potter, I tend to be polite to people. A nasty little habit my mother forced into me, I'm afraid." Potter didn't say anything, unless one counted the death glare he was giving Leopold, which said a whole lot more than words ever could. "All right, well this clearly has not been one of your best days. And since I must follow you around, I feel obliged, for the sake of my sanity, to put you in a better mood. I can't tolerate grumpy people."

"You don't have to follow me around."

"I beg to differ. If you're not in your house, I'm sorry to say I must be by your side."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's what_ I've_ been saying. I'm glad you agree. We'll have to tell Shacklebolt about this the moment we see him," Leopold said, excitedly. Harry did not look as cheered as Leopold felt. "Okay. It seems you're in need of friendly interaction. Now, this may not appeal to you, however on many Fridays we usually get together at the Leaky for a night of general debauchery. I know it's stupid to invite you, but here I am, inviting you." Harry stared at Leo with an unreadable expression on his face. Leopold glanced away, watching two children hitting each other across the street, giggling at the brutality. Leopold knew he was going to regret giving Harry the invitation and that it'd probably result in having an unhealthy amount of drinks at the Leaky while Roger assured him that he didn't need Harry's friendship. Maybe he could find some unsuspecting woman to pity him in his Potterless state.

"All right."

"What?"

"I said all right. I'll go with you." Leopold gawked at Potter in disbelief before raising a questioning eyebrow. Potter smirked ruefully. "I bet you didn't see that coming." Leopold almost revoked the invitation just to take the extremely smug look off of Potter's face.

"I did not. But that's all right. I will counter my shock with firewhiskey." Leopold began to walk and Harry followed. It was a nice night and it seemed rather superfluous to Leo to apparate to a location they could easily walk to. And besides, they were early and Leopold hated being early: whoever arrived first had to buy the first round of drinks.

"I think you have an unhealthy affinity toward firewhiskey. You should probably get help for that."

"Harry, I think you're the last person to be giving out mental health advice." There was a pause. Leopold wasn't sure if Potter noticed the slip he had made in addressing him by his first name rather than the condescending use of his surname. If he had noticed, however, he chose to ignore it. Much to Leopold's intense relief.

"Who is this "we" you mentioned, anyway?" Harry asked, clearing his throat.

"A few friends. People you probably don't remember for their lack of fawning over you."

"I don't _enjoy_ the attention, you know," Potter said, bitterly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I, however, enjoy how angry you get when I imply that you do," Leopold replied with a smile. Potter's scowl softened slightly. "You rise to the occasion quite nicely. You're so much more fun to tease than Roger."

"Speaking of Roger, how come I don't remember seeing you in school?"

"Why are you asking me to explain your deteriorated memory? Moreover, how many Ravenclaws beside Cho do you remember, anyway?"

"I remember Roger."

"Because of his affiliation with Cho."

"And Michael Corner."

"Because of his affiliation with Cho _and_ Madam Weasley."

"Luna Lovegood is my friend," Harry snapped, puffing out his chest proudly. As though recognizing a Ravenclaw who had nothing to do with a pretty girl he used to date was something he should be congratulated about. Leopold may not have remembered the names of every Gryffindor in Hogwarts at his time, but he at least remembered the ones in his year. Although, he supposed if he had his life threatened every year for seven years, he'd forget some people, as well. He wasn't about to give Harry the satisfaction of being justified in his lack of memory, though.

"Is she really? How philanthropic of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean you said that like I was supposed to give you a medal for it. Again, this is you rising to the occasion. I was just goading you, Potter. I don't expect you to know anyone I know, nor do I care that you don't." Leopold wrapped his cloak closer to him, the chill in the air and in Potter's eyes cut him to the bone. "To answer your question, Michael, Cho, and Roger will be there. Along with Adrian Pucey, who, you may or may not know, is not a Ravenclaw but we keep him around for variety sake. Oh and Terry Boot, Fawcett, and perhaps a few others. I believe Roger invited Susan Bones, as well, but that was merely due to his desire to snog her senseless. He really has the strangest taste in women." Leopold expected Harry to give a snide comment about this observation, yet he was silent. Leopold glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw that Potter looked slightly more morose than he had prior to the naming of the guest list.

"Cho will be there, then?" Cho and _Michael_, Leopold wanted to reiterate, however something in Harry's face told Leo not to press the matter further.

"That's what I said. It will be a fun gathering. Fun, Potter. You do know what that is, don't you?"

"I used to. But then I was introduced to a man named Leopold Ackerley and all notions of fun left me forever."

"Ha! You see? Now you're playing the victim properly. I've taught you well." Harry snickered derisively. "Promise me you'll keep your surliness to a minimum, Potter. These are friends I'd like to continue seeing and I prefer it if your sour disposition didn't change that."

"This may shock you, but I know how to act around people who don't annoy the hell out of me." 

"Yes yes, we'll see about that." They finally reached the rundown façade of the Leaky Cauldron. They looked around nonchalantly before heading in. The inside was an incredible contrast to the outside. It was bright inside, for one, and everyone seemed to be talking, laughing, and drinking merrily. Leopold instantly felt lighter as his gaze fell on several of his friends and well wishers.


	12. Chapter 11 part 2

This chapter wasn't designed to be two parts, but it's so long that I made it this way. So forgive the slight discontinuity between last chapter and this one.

**Chapter Eleven part 2**

"Leo!" a few of his friends shouted as he headed over to him. "We almost thought you weren't coming," Terry Boot said congenially, thumping Leo on the back.

"When have I ever missed a chance to come drink?" Leo asked, gratefully accepting the glass of firewhiskey being shoved into his hand.

"Well, with the stories all over the press, we thought you might want to lay low," Michael said, pulling up a stool next to Leo.

"That's just what they want me to do," Leo replied, downing his glass in one gulp. In all his chastising of Potter, he had forgotten about the incriminating articles. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to act, now that he was supposedly a newly outed and married gay man. He didn't know how his friends would act toward him either.

"Yes, and you're never one to do what they want you to do," Roger quipped, handing Leo a shot glass. "To Harry Potter, who was recently made the luckiest man on Earth." The group laughed as they downed their shots.

Leo ordered another drink. They seemed to be treating him the same as usual. Perhaps Roger had told some of them about the secret mission Shacklebolt had charged Leo with. Or perhaps, like the good friends they were, they didn't actually care. Leo was suddenly reminded that he did not enter the Leaky alone, and searched over the sea of heads for one particularly black one.

"I must admit, Leo, I would never have guessed that you of all people were of that persuasion, but I can't say that I'm disappointed," Jonathan Summers remarked, eyeing Leo almost hungrily.

"Ah, well, thank you, Jon. I shall keep that in mind?" Leo replied, edging away. Eddie Carmichael sniggered, patting a disappointed Summers on the back. He shrugged, looking amused when Leo threw him a questioning look. Leo made a mental note not to be alone with Summers in the near future.

There seemed to be more people there than usual. He spotted Cho talking to Susan Bones at the other side of the bar and he waved at them when they looked up from their conversation. Cho gave him her trademarked impeccable smile, making Leo wish, not for the first time, that she'd chosen him instead of her other lackluster suitors.

Leopold managed to tear his eyes away from Cho long enough to finally spot Harry, who was standing off to the side, glaring up at the ceiling. Leopold sighed, ordered two firewhiskeys, and headed over to the antisocial nitwit.

"Really, Potter, this isn't the Yule Ball. You can actually talk and interact with people," Leo observed, handing Harry a glass. Harry chugged it quickly.

"I feel awkward," he admitted, when he was done, wincing at the strength of the drink. Leo refrained from making a snide comment about Potter being used to butterbeer.

"Why? They won't bite, I promise. I mean, Roger will tease you and Terry probably will too, and Summers may just attack you, but it's all in good fun. Except Summers. I'd watch out for him. Anyway, stop acting like a teenager."

"I am a teenager."

"You don't have to act like one." Someone turned on music and a great cheer rose from the crowd as the tables were swished off to the side to make room for dancing. Leopold spotted an exceptionally beautiful brown haired witch dancing with Pucey. He could feel himself gravitating toward her, already thinking of ways to get her away from his friend. He could remark on Pucey's hygiene. Or maybe he could inquire if Pucey had his rash checked out lately—

"Are you guys celebrating something?" Harry asked, always the killjoy, bringing Leo back to Earth. He was watching the boisterous group dubiously. Leo was busy wondering if it was ethical to actually hex a rash onto Pucey in order to make his potential lie more believable.

"Are we what? No! I told you, this is our Friday night. Although Roger may be telling everyone this is our wedding reception or something," Leopold shouted over the din of the room, keeping the witch in his line of sight. He wished he could have her by the end of the night. "Now if you want to see a celebration, you should wait until one of us gets a promotion. The night Cho was accepted into the Healer program, well, I can't really tell you because I don't remember most of it. But it was a good night, that's for sure." Leo chuckled, however Harry didn't join him as Leo had anticipated. He really did look as though he felt supremely awkward. Leo sort of regretted inviting Harry, simply because of what social interaction was doing to the man.

"What are you lovebirds gossiping about?" Roger asked, coming up to them holding three drinks in his hand. He gave one to Harry and Leo.

"I was just reminiscing about Cho's party over the summer. Remember that?"

"Merlin, no. But that's the sign of a good party, right?" Roger and Leo laughed in agreement. "You own me ten galleons, by the way."

"Why?" Roger nodded over to the bar where Leo discovered that Susan Bones had abandoned her conversation with Cho in favor of more recreational activities with Ernie Macmillan. "Well that's not ministry appropriate now, is it?"

"Depends on your definition of Ministry."

"And your definition of appropriate," Harry supplied. Roger and Leo looked at him, clearly shocked that he managed to make a joke, then burst out laughing. Harry smiled in a surprisingly unsmug way, which softened his usually grumpy face. Roger clapped him amicably on the back.

"You're all right, Potter. I'll buy you another drink." Before Harry could protest, Roger dove into the crowd on his drink-fetching mission. Leo glanced at Harry, who did seem significantly less uncomfortable with the situation.

"Firewhiskey treating you kindly?" Leo asked, trying not to smile at the sort of glazed look forming in Harry's eyes. Leo knew the man was probably feeling the familiar warmth of a good drunkening coming on. To Leo, it was almost like watching his son take his first steps.

"Mmm, yes," he grinned sloppily. Leo snorted in amusement. Potter was a lightweight. Leo decided that he must take Potter drinking more often.

Roger returned with four glasses in hand, giving two to Harry and one to Leo.

"Why does he get two?"

"Because he made me laugh. And not _at_ him, which is usually the case with you." They watched Harry as he gulped down both glasses without taking a breath. "And look at him! He's a pro!"

Harry continued to show how much of a pro he really was the rest of the night. Leo eventually lost count of how many drinks the man consumed once his own drink count reached past the ten finger limit. By the end of the night everyone was dancing on tables, singing belligerently, and generally enjoying the life of a wizard. Leopold was torn between trying to get the attention of the pretty brunette and keeping Harry close to him.

Leo wasn't sure why he wanted to keep Harry in his general vicinity, it was just an instinct that took over and wouldn't allow him to pounce on the brunette, no matter how much his libido told him to. He kept telling himself that Harry was a big boy and could hold his own among Leo's friends, who had actually accepted Harry into the fold without question, even Pucey, who was more Slytherin than he'd probably admit. But for some reason, whenever he couldn't see Harry, strange feelings overcame him along with a slight panic until the bespectacled savior of the wizarding world was back in view.

When closing time rolled around, those inebriated few who were left, spilled out onto the sidewalk, trying to be quiet in that hopelessly drunk way.

"Is it poker night tomorrow, gents?" Pucey asked, stumbling slightly. He was held up by Terry, who looked slightly strained under his weight. The mention of their favorite muggle game riled everyone up again. Poker night funded their weekly romps to various pubs; winners were forced to give half their winnings to the firewhiskey jar.

"Your galleons are our galleons, Puce," Roger slurred. He was holding on to, much to Leo's disbelief, the pretty brown haired witch. He looked significantly less drunk and far more excited than anyone else in the group. Leo tried not to be consumed with envy as he glanced at the black haired fiend he was forced to go home with. "Is it your week to host?"

"I hosted last week!"

"It's Michael's turn to host," Terry interjected, shifting Pucey on his shoulder.

"Then I shall host!" Michael exclaimed, closing one eye and looking deep in thought. "My flat, tomorrow at five, you ghouls." They all made sounds of drunken agreement and turned to part ways.

"Hold on there, is Harry coming, then?" Cho inquired, arms wrapped around Michael half in affection and half in support. Everyone stopped and looked at Leo curiously.

"Er—" Harry croaked, stumbling. Leo caught him. "Of course!"

"Good," Cho smiled warmly, causing Michael to frown and Harry to smile wider than he ever had. Everyone bid farewell to their debauched companions. Harry and Leo turned toward Grimmauld Place, preparing for the longest walk either had probably experienced. Apparition took too much concentration and brain power than either of them could muster at that moment.

"That was—hic—a goo' nigh'," Harry said as they passed darkened buildings. Every so often he stumbled on the verge of falling, but miraculously kept himself from breaking his face on the sidewalk. "We should do that aga—again."

"We do it almost every week," Leo replied solemnly, using all his concentration to keep himself upright. The one foot in front of the other situation was far more complicated than he previously thought. The benches just looked so inviting and if he could just sit for a little bit and maybe rest his eyes for a while—

"Can I come nex' time?"

"Sure. We've always wanted a Gryffindor in the crew," Leo lied. No one had ever said anything about Gryffindors joining the group, but then again, none of them really knew any Gryffindors to invite.

"I was 'spose to be in Slytherin, you know. The 'at thought it was a goo' idea." Harry shrugged, causing him to stumble again, but Leo caught him again.

"What changed its mind?"

"Me. I told it I didn' want to be. Sooo it said okay." Harry waved his hand dismissively, almost slapping Leopold in the face in the process. Leo ducked, keeping his arm around Harry in case of future stumbles.

"I don't think you would have made much of a Slytherin, anyway. You're very Gryffindor."

"Than' you." Leopold laughed which caused the chain reaction of Harry laughing, as well. They laughed for a good five minutes before Harry stopped abruptly. Leopold glanced over to make sure he wasn't lugging around an unconscious Chosen One. Harry was awake, but not as cheerful as he had been seconds prior. And they said Leo had quick mood swings. "Why do you hate me?" The question caught Leo entirely off guard and he was pretty sure it would have even if he hadn't just finished drinking more glasses of firewhiskey than he had fingers.

"I don't hate you. Who said I hated you?"

"You."

"I never said I hated you."

"I don't have a lot o' friends, you know. Jus' Ron and Hermione. And when they ge' married—" Harry seemed on the verge of tears which brought that strange feeling over Leo once more. He hadn't realized that all his ribbing at Potter's expense had really affected the man. He, like everyone else in the world, had apparently forgotten that Potter had feelings, too. Leo vowed to keep the teasing to a minimum. If only he could remember that vow in the morning.

"I don't hate you, Harry," Leo answered, rather softly. "It's actually quite the contrary—"

Harry froze in mid step. "What? What's wrong?" Without answering, Harry turned and vomited in the nearest bush. Leopold gently pushed him forward so that he did not spew all over his pullover. "Merlin, Potter! What did you eat today?" Harry was too preoccupied to reply. He fell to his knees and vomited again.

"Oh god," he muttered, hunched over and heaving. Leo couldn't help but sympathize. He had been there before. Perhaps not in the middle of London at four o'clock in the morning, but the general sentiment was the same. Potter was miserable now, but he'd be a train wreck later on. "I'm sorry—" He vomited once more, tears streaming down his face. Leo knelt down beside him, patting him soothingly on the back. Harry looked mildly panicked, as though he couldn't believe what he was doing.

"It's all right, calm down. You keep hanging with us and you'll get used to it." Harry whimpered a little and let his head fall against Leo's chest. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Leo had almost completely sobered by now, which was wont to happen when someone barely misses throwing up all over his shoes, and he looked down at Harry's vaguely pained face. Leo chose this moment to notice how exceedingly handsome Harry really was and that strange feeling welled up inside of him once more.

They sat like that for a moment or two before Leo realized where they were and what the scene could possibly look like to a passerby. "Potter. Harry, you can't sleep here. We're almost to your place." Harry moaned, nuzzling Leo. Leo let out a long breath, ignoring the funny jump his heart made. "Harry, wake up. I can't carry you." Harry's breathing became deep and regular. Leopold could feel the soft puffs on his neck and his skin tingled. He sighed.

"The things I do," he muttered, hoisting Harry to a standing position. Harry groaned this time, and Leo held him at arms length in case there was more in his stomach. When he was sure no more vomit was coming, Leo hefted Harry into a piggyback. Harry's chin rested on Leo's shoulder, a not entirely uncomfortable weight. "If you vomit on me, I _will_hate you. I will hate you to death."

"I like you," Harry mumbled slightly incoherently into Leo's shoulder, as though this would counteract any future puke. Leo paused, looking at Harry out of the corner of his eye. If he didn't know better, he would have sworn the man hadn't said anything at all.

"I like you, too."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Leopold didn't quite know what to do with himself.

He'd spent Saturday in his flat, fluctuating between staring at the walls and making himself cup after cup of unnaturally strong coffee. Whenever he caught himself in either act, he'd jump up and grab a book off of the shelf and attempt to read. The result was a lot of briefly read books strewn around him among about six coffee mugs.

"What is wrong with me?" He wondered aloud, after catching himself again in contemplation of the wall.

The truth was, he didn't know what was wrong with him. On the one hand, he was vaguely concerned about Potter. He'd dropped the man off at his brooding abode, leaving him unceremoniously splayed on his bed with a large jug of water and an empty bucket. That wasn't quite the payback he'd intended for Potter after being taken care of in a similar situation, but he couldn't possibly bring himself to stay over Potter's house. For one, he didn't know which room he should stay in and he was fairly positive that their friendship wouldn't be the same if Potter woke up to find Leo sleeping with him. Not that sleeping with Potter was acceptable in any way, shape, or form.

On the other hand, he wanted to avoid Potter at all costs. Something odd and unnerving overcame him whenever he was around The Boy Who Lived, and whatever it was, it wasn't something Leopold liked feeling. The uncomfortable tingling when Potter touched him, the worrying flutters of his heart when Potter looked at him, the irritating desire to smile when Potter genuinely smiled at him; it all made for a strange situation that Leo never enjoyed being in. What was going on, anyway? Why did it become so awkward to be around Harry Potter?

His life had spun out of control the moment Shacklebolt called him into his office that day, and it was getting to the point where Leopold didn't find the situation tragically comical any longer. Killing his sex life was one thing, making Leo uncomfortable was something entirely different.

When five o'clock rolled around, he readied himself to go to Michael's, but paused. Could he really face Potter? More than that, could he handle Roger's constant goading about their newlywed status while keeping his usual cheerful and nonchalant demeanor? He turned on the spot and vanished with a crack, arriving, not in Michael's place in Surrey, but at his parents' place in Brighton. He needed some mothering.

"Leo! Don't do that, you scared the wits out of me," his mother greeted him, picking up the book she'd dropped in surprise. She took a steadying breath and gave him a warm, motherly smile when she recovered. "How are you doing, dear?" Leo sighed, looking around at a room he'd looked around for twenty-one years. The familiarity somehow soothed him slightly; the pictures of him and Stewart on the mantle, the family portrait above the fireplace, the multiple Hogwarts awards and accolades bestowed to him and his mother, his father's ministry certificates of achievement. Everything reminded Leo of a stability his life had once had before he had allowed Kingsley Shacklebolt to thrust Harry Potter into his otherwise uneventful existence.

"I want some pie," he said after a while.

"That's it? No 'I'm fine, mother, how are you? I missed seeing your lovely face so I came by to visit'?"

"All of that was implied within the pie request." She laughed, standing up and heading to the kitchen. "Where is my illustrious father?" He asked as he followed his mother. She began digging around, searching for ingredients.

"Oh so your father gets to be illustrious, I just have to be fetcher of the pie." Leo kissed her on the cheek before dropping into a chair. "He's off visiting Amos Diggory, poor fellow." A cup of tea appeared in front of him and he took it gratefully. "Work not going so well, my love?"

His mother took pride in being the only person who could read him perfectly. She called it Ravenclaw intuition, whereas his father called it a mother's instinct as a refusal to allow Ravenclaws any more talent than they already had. To her, a desire for pie was not just the plea of a rogue sweet tooth; it was the call for help from a desperate mind. And Leopold was not too old or too proud to run to his mother when he was feeling down.

"I should have gone into Magical Cooperation like you wanted me to," Leo muttered as she tossed a few eggs into a pot. She glanced over her shoulder and frowned at the look on Leo's face.

"I think you would have liked Magical Cooperation, Leo, I didn't just want you to follow in my footsteps," she replied, using her wand to splash milk into another bowl. "I hate to see you so down, dear, what's wrong?"

"You know that assignment Shacklebolt gave me?" She sat next to him, leaving the bowls behind her to stir themselves. She summoned a cup of tea for herself and nodded.

"The one involving you and Harry Potter engaging in questionable activities as documented by the _Daily Prophet_?" She hid her smile behind her teacup, but Leo was too distracted to care about her good-natured tease. "And the almost scandalous activities documented in _Witch Weekly_?" He also refrained from pointing out the time she said it would be a cold day in hell before Victoria Ackerley read trash like _Witch Weekly._

"Right."

"What about it?"

"I think it's gotten out of hand."

"You think? What makes you think that other than the fact that you stand to go down in love triangle infamy?"

"It's changing my life." She hesitated, playing with her long plait. She watched him for a moment, blue eyes intense and calculating. He could almost see her choosing her words carefully.

"Well, as I don't know the whole situation, I can only speculate. Obviously this isn't a welcomed change, or you wouldn't be here begging for pie. So the way I see it, you have two options. Either you ask Kingsley to reassign the job to someone else or you look at the change as another stage of life that you need to deal with. I know how much you hate to hear this, my love, but you are a grown man. Things are bound to change."

"I think Shacklebolt will fire me if I ask to be reassigned."

"Then that's something you need to consider, isn't it? Are you fit to be an Auror?" She stood up to finish her pie making, leaving him with the heavy question to which he had no answer.

"You sure know how to cut a man down, mother."

"It's how I trained your father. He was hopelessly unmanageable before I got to him."

"That is completely and utterly untrue. Ackerley men do not need to be trained. Our untamable nature is what makes us so sexy." She laughed again, returning to the table with two slices of pie.

"You made it seem urgent, so it's not my fault if it's not as good as it usually is," she said, handing him a fork.

"Everything you create, my darling mother, is perfect."

"You're just entirely too modest for your own good." And they ate their pie, talking and laughing, Leopold consciously ignoring the fact that talking to his mother really hadn't helped the situation at all, and he was just as upset and irritated as he had been when he apparated into the house. When he finally decided to leave, significantly fuller but no less confused, he kissed his mother goodbye and apparated back to his flat. It was already dark and he was going to get crap about missing poker night, but he figured the best way to get back into his usual charming and exceedingly enjoyable demeanor was to seclude himself from people.

"We have replaced you with Harry Potter for missing poker night," was what he was greeted with when he appeared in his sitting room.

"I really shouldn't have told you how to get through all my protective spells," Leopold replied, scowling at Roger, who was sitting on the couch reading the_Prophet_, his feet propped up on the coffee table. Leopold could see a small image of himself peaking out from one of the pages and he sighed. "Get your disgusting feet off my furniture, by the way."

"Whine, whine," Roger said, standing up from the couch and following Leopold into the kitchen. "Why did you ditch us, then? We were waiting for you."

"Sorry. I went to see my mother. She was in desperate need to see the face of her favorite son."

"But since Stewart is at Hogwarts, she had to settle for you?" Roger burst out laughing at his own joke. Leopold waited for the laughter to subside, eyebrow raised and arms folded across his chest.

"Ah, Roger. Your laughter at my expense shall never get old."

"I know," Roger replied, pawing through Leopold's cupboards. "You really ought to go shopping, you know. This is pathetic."

"I am an important ministry trained Auror. I do not have time for shopping."

"Just like you don't have time for your devoted friends. Muggle games are not nearly as much fun without your money. I mean, your company."

"I'm sure you all got on fine without me. Pucey is horrible."

"Yes, but we cleaned him out within minutes. Good thing Potter is a pretty terrible player, so we managed to make his pockets significantly lighter. The firewhiskey fund has been replenished."

"I can sleep soundly tonight, then."

"Potter seemed concerned about your absence. And aren't you supposed to be with him at all times? You wouldn't want his admirers thinking your marriage is on the skids." Roger popped open a bottle of butterbeer he unearthed from somewhere Leo could only guess. Leo put on the kettle.

"Merlin forbid. I'm sorry, I intended on going, but then something came up. I am not one to ignore the call of a woman in need. Especially not a woman who makes delicious pie." Roger sniffed, snagging an apple from the basket on the counter. He leaned against the sink, watching Leopold carefully. Leo tried not to squirm under Roger's calculating gaze, thinking of witty retorts for anything Roger would possibly throw at him. Roger was unfortunately very good at reading Leopold's moods. Leo turned back to the kettle, trying to look busy.

"What's the matter? You seem upset about something," Roger said, taking a large bite of the apple.

"What would I possibly be upset about? I didn't lose any money tonight."

"Come off it, Leo. You've been rather mopey for a while now. Are you actually upset about this Harry Potter thing?" Roger hopped up onto the counter alternating between swigs of butterbeer and bites of the apple.

"This 'Harry Potter thing'? You mean the thing that has started to ruin my life? I'm glad you can take it so lightly, Roger, as it's not something _you_ have to deal with." Roger frowned, tossing the apple remains into the wastebasket. The kettle began to whistle and Leo moved it with a flick of his wand. They were both glaring at each other, though neither could explain how the conversation turned so quickly into an argument.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying I don't care about anything that doesn't concern me?"

"If the shoe fits."

"May I remind you, Leo, that people become friends with those who they feel they have things in common with. You're not exactly set to win the _Prophet_'s Wizard of the Year award. Before this, you were quite content with being wrapped up in your own world."

"Piss off, Roger, I wasn't and still am not, that egotistical." Roger barked out a sarcastic laugh.

"Please! It's always about you and how things effect you. Even back when we were in school." Leo reached into a cupboard, pulled out a coffee cup, and slammed it down. It shattered, sending pieces of ceramic across the counter and slicing a good sized gash in Leo's finger. He whirled around, glowering at Roger in a fit of passionate hatred. Roger scowled back, folding his arms across his chest. Leo tried not to think about the fact that he was so angry with Roger because Roger was so right. And since he couldn't direct his fury at himself, he was forced to unleash it upon a man who was doing nothing more than being a good friend.

"If it bothered you so much, Roger, why be friends with me?"

"Because when you're not whining about stupid things you're actually enjoyable to be around. I'm not telling you this to be mean, Leo, I'm telling you so you're aware. We're both like that, it's how we get along so well, I suppose. I've been your best mate for years, I'm not going to dump you now."

"Whatever. I'm glad how you really feel about me is finally out in the open."

"There you go again, victimizing yourself. The world isn't out to get you. Have you ever stopped and thought about how horrible the situation is for Harry? Do you even care about him?"

"You know what? I do care about him. And that's the bloody problem." Roger paused in mid-tirade. This was obviously not the confession he'd expected to come from Leo, just as much as Leo had not expected to say it. But there was no taking the words back now and Leo wasn't sure he would want to take them back if he could. And so there it was: the source of Leo's discomfort. The possible reason why Harry's touch brought chills to Leo's spine, why Leo would go to great lengths to see Harry smile.

"You…care about him how, exactly?" Roger inquired carefully. Leo growled, stalking out of the kitchen. Roger followed closely behind, waiting eagerly for an answer. "Leo?" Leo realized he couldn't ignore the question for much longer and groaned in frustration. Roger just had to get all concerned for him; he couldn't have just accepted that Leo was grumpy and move on.

"Ugh, I don't know. He's a pain in the arse." Roger suddenly grinned knowingly. Leo dropped his head in his hands, dreading what was going to come next.

"You're totally in love with him!" Roger pointed almost accusingly at Leo, then proceeded to do possibly the most effeminate jig Leo had ever seen a man perform.

"No, I'm not," Leo said weakly to the floor. Roger threw himself on the couch next to Leo, elbowing him amiably. "Stop it, I'm not."

"You totally are! I should have recognized it sooner! Does this mean you're gay or do you swing both ways, eh?" Roger seemed to be on the verge of jumping up and down in excitement. Leo, for the life of him, could not figure out why this new development would be such a source of joy for his friend.

"God, Roger, _shut up_," Leo whined. Roger ignored him.

"You should thank Shacklebolt, now, you know. This part of you would have been suppressed for Merlin knows how long, forcing the rest of us to deal with your built up frustration and subsequent angst. I think you probably swing both ways. I saw you checking out that witch I went home with last night."

"She was beautiful, you lucky bastard." Roger smiled again, probably remembering all the things he did with said witch the night before. This did not help Leo in the slightest. He wondered if Roger would ever forgive him if he kicked him out of his flat.

"So what are you going to do now that you've tapped into the gay within? I personally, don't care, but it might make things with Harry far more awkward than they are."

"Hm, you think?" Leo replied, sarcastically. "I'm not going to do anything. Who knows, this could just be a reaction to Potter. All those women chasing him would probably agree."

"You don't just turn things like this off and on, Leo. Why fight it?" Leo rolled his eyes, shaking his head. This revelation, while probably good in the long run, was taking its toll on his composure. Roger was making him think about things he didn't want to think about.

"Where would I be in accepting it? Potter will never feel the same way: he's in love with the wrathful Weasley."

"You never know, it could all just be a front. I'm not saying you should tell him, it's up to you either way, I'm just saying you might feel better if you did."

"I think I'll feel even better if I keep on going the way I am and ignore it."

"Your choice, but I think you're making a mistake. Love is not something that should be bottled up."

"And you would know being the world's foremost expert in love and all." Roger snorted, leaning back and patting Leo on the arm. Leo never would have told Roger this, but he did feel better now after having this talk than he had after his talk with his mother. Perhaps Roger was right; frustration was what made Leo so miserable.

"I always wondered why Summers gave you the eye all the time. He could sense it!"

"Sense it? Like he's some sort of wolf hunting for injured prey?"

"You know what I mean."

"I do, and that's the scariest part of all." Leo summoned the firewhiskey from the kitchen, placing him another step toward alcoholism. Roger held up a glass, wiggling it a little to indicate that he wanted to imbibe as well. "Can you keep this to yourself? I hardly know what's going on, I don't need all of our friends treating me weirdly on top of that."

"Half of them already think you're gay anyway. I only told Cho, Michael, and Terry about the job Shacklebolt gave you. Pucey, of course, already knew." They lapsed into silence, Roger probably letting Leo think through this new understanding.

"Merlin. Am I really in love with him?" He muttered, more to himself than to Roger. He found it hard to believe that he had such strong feelings for a guy that, if asked before his talk with Roger, he would have said he loathed. Then again, would he have said that? When did Leo's hatred of Potter's existence transform into a desire to be, as _Witch Weekly _so eloquently put it, Harry's Chosen One?

Roger nodded with a chuckle, pouring himself another glass of firewhiskey. He took a large swallow before replying.

"I think so, mate. But that's all right, it'll make the marriage a bit more believable, yeah?"

"Not according to Shacklebolt."


	14. Chapter 13

A review or two would be nice. Or three. Or many.

**Chapter Thirteen**

"I should fire you right now, Ackerley!" Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice boomed suddenly. Leopold looked up from his paperwork, startled. Roger was off with Susan either teaching her the ways of an Auror or tooling around in Hogsmeade to kill time. Harry hadn't come in yet, and to distract himself from this noticeable absence, Leopold had set himself to work on a pile of files that littered his and Roger's desks. Shacklebolt's interruption was both welcomed and terrifying.

"Well, sir, if you don't want me to fill out paperwork, I will gladly cease and desist immediately," Leopold replied, happily pushing the papers away from him. Except something was wrong, Shacklebolt was not smiling, as Leo would have assumed he would be while threatening to fire someone. The man actually looked furious. Leo instantly wiped the smile off of his face and stood up. "What is wrong, sir?"

"Potter. He has been missing for about ten hours. What part of the job I gave you didn't you understand? You were supposed to prevent things like this from happening!" The breath caught in Leo's throat as he slowly sat down in his chair again. Ten hours. That meant Harry must have disappeared right after he'd finished playing poker with the gang. If Leo hadn't been having his ridiculous crisis, this wouldn't have happened.

"Sir, I—"

"I don't want to hear your asinine excuses, Leopold. You better find Potter, alive, or you're going to wish you were dead." Shacklebolt threw a file on Leo's desk and stormed out of the room. Leo opened it and discovered it contained Harry's last known whereabouts (central London), who he was with (Cho, apparently walking her home), Cho's testimony (someone stunned her from behind and when she woke up, Harry was gone) and at the corner was a running clock, counting the seconds that passed as Harry remained unfound. Leo stared at the tiny clock in disbelief. Ten hours. Merlin knows what could have happened to the man in that time. And it was all Leo's fault. Horrible thoughts began swimming in Leo's mind and before they could completely paralyze him, he turned on the spot and apparated to Harry's last known location.

It was lucky for Leo that the street was intensely crowded, so no one noticed his sudden appearance. It struck him, then, that central London was a rather large place. He looked around for anything that could indicate where Potter might be. For a few agonizing minutes he saw nothing, merely the nervous and disapproving looks of the Londoners he pushed out of his away.

Then he found it: Potter's wand lying innocently at the steps of an abandoned looking building. To a muggle, it would seem like a broken branch from a tree gone awry. To Leo, it meant that Harry was in more danger than Leo had once thought. A wizard in peril was one thing, a wizard in peril without a wand was something completely and terribly different.

Leo bent down and snatched up the wand before kicking open the door to the building. He was anticlimactically greeted by a large, dilapidated staircase. Pulling out his own wand, he lit the tip and kept both at the ready.

The silence was stifling. He had to struggle to keep himself focused on finding Harry rather than what was possibly lurking around corners. He realized suddenly that he should have brought Roger with him and that he wasn't really prepared for anything that would happen, least of all fighting with a group of vicious kidnappers. He'd acted on impulse and, as an auror, he knew that was a big mistake.

At the top of the stairs, Leopold found himself staring at a large dark room. He thrust his wand in a little ahead of him and almost lost his hand.

"_Diffindo_!" Someone shouted from within. Leo withdrew his hand quickly, cursing himself for doing something as stupid as walking into a dark room unaware.

"_Protego!"_ Leopold shielded himself before stepping inside the room again. Light exploded around him as curses flew from all directions. Leo made sure to keep one wand shielding him as he threw curses from the other. "_Confringo!"_ The back wall exploded. Several people screamed in shock and pain. Leo made a quick survey of the room as the light from his explosion illuminated everything. There were at least twenty darkly clad individuals in there with him. There was a door on the far wall and one closer to him. He had to make a quick decision as to which one to go through and chose the one more heavily guarded. He started walking toward his chosen door.

"_Crucio!"_ Leo's body cramped in extreme pain. He fell to the floor, one of the wands spinning away from his outstretched hand. It was his wand, leaving him only with Harry's for protection. "Cruc—"

"_Sectumsempra!_" There was a sickening slicing sound as the spell hit Leo's attacker and severed his arm. Leo rolled over and spotted his wand as another explosion came close to his head. "_Accio_ wand!" The wand zoomed into his hand just as another man attempted to use the Cruciatus Curse. Leo ducked, jumping to his feet.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Leo's heart stopped as he heard those words. He instantly dropped to the floor, curling as small as he could. He felt the heat of the spell above his head and saw the flash of deadly green light. He had to be more careful.

Leo pointed his wand behind his back. "_Stupefy_!" He shouted at his attempted murderer, still on the floor. The man immediately fell. Leo stood up and began running to the door, throwing curses all around. He'd taken down about ten people, but that left another ten to contend with. "Stupe—"

"_Incendio!"_ Leo's robes burst into flames. He tripped and fell backwards against the door he'd been running to. The door opened and he stumbled through, toppling down the stairs. There was a sharp crack before he hit the landing. Blinding agony ripped through his body. He looked down to find his leg bent at an ungodly angle. He immediately looked away, taking deep breaths to stop himself from vomiting.

His hand was shaking as he raised his wand to the broken limb. "_Reparo._" He muttered, hoping that it would at least undo some of the damage. Little bolts of electric pain shot through him, but he was able to regain a little bit of movement in his leg. His head ached horribly and when he reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, they came away bloodied. Before he could stand up, three men were at the top of the staircase he'd just fallen down, throwing curses at him. Leo used the shield charm again with Harry's wand and began hitting them with every debilitating spell he knew. There were still more stairs to go down, but he wasn't about to turn his back until he was sure no one would go after him.

He hit one of his attackers with a well-placed stunner, and the man tumbled down the stairs, almost falling on Leo. Distracted, Leo avoided the falling body, but in the process, left himself open for attack.

"_Sectumsempra!_" Before Leo could shield himself again, large slashes appeared on the front of his robes. He watched in horror as his blood splattered across the walls. He stumbled back against the railing, pressing his hands against his chest as though to keep his blood from pouring out the way it was. He looked up in time to see the man who cast the spell smile in triumph. Leo was losing blood rapidly and almost didn't have the energy to move on, but a last surge of adrenaline kept him going.

He had to stop himself from using the Killing Curse as the thought briefly raced into his mind. That wasn't the only way to defeat them, he knew, he couldn't resort to that just yet. "_Reducto!"_ The top of the staircase exploded and the men was blown away, hopefully unable to do more harm. Leo turned, eyes on another door that was at the bottom of the second set of stairs. Distantly, he heard a bang above him and that prompted him to go on although his body was finished. "_Alohomora_." The door flew open, to Leo's relief, and he staggered in. The room was lit with only one torch and he at first thought it was empty. He almost staggered back out with the foolish thought that he was capable of trying somewhere else when something caught his eye: a mop of unruly black hair.

"Leo?" It was Harry, in a corner, ankles bound by magical chains, sporting a black eye and a busted lip, but otherwise alive and generally all right. Leo stumbled over to him and fell to his knees, more grateful to see Harry alive than anything else. Everything he'd blocked out of his mind before the battle came rushing back, overwhelming him and he was shocked to find tears clouding his vision.

"Harry," he muttered. The wands he was holding clattered to the floor. He reached forward, putting both hands on Harry's shoulders, pulling him closer. Harry was clutching at Leo as though trying to make sure he were real and not some horrible trick. And before Leo could stop it, their lips were pressed together tightly, each in his own world of quiet desperation. Neither man was entirely sure what was happening, however neither man attempted to stop. Leo didn't know who started it, but it ended when he fainted in Harry's arms, the world turning gratifyingly yet frighteningly black.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"When he wakes up, I'm going to kill him." Were the words that welcomed Leo back into consciousness.

"That's not much motivation for me to wake up, now, is it?" Leo replied, opening his eyes. Roger was standing over him, a look of intense fury on his usually friendly face. Leo's smile slowly faded. He tried to sit up, but his abdomen was both too pained and bound too tightly for him to move.

"Shut up, Leo. Shut up or I swear I'll hex you into oblivion," Roger threatened, brandishing his wand. Leo had never seen Roger act this way.

"Is Harry—?" Something happening to Harry was the only reason Leo could think of that would cause Roger to be in such a rage. But Harry was apparently the last thing on Roger's mind.

"He's fine. Which is hardly what I can say about you after that idiotic stunt you pulled. What were you thinking going into an unknown building full of Death Eaters alone?"

"Death Eaters?"

"That's what I said. Who else would have kidnapped Harry Potter? If you had just waited before running off and doing something stupid, you would have gotten all the information and you wouldn't have been on the verge of death. They weren't going to kill him, by the way, they wanted to make him the new Dark Lord or some nonsense."

"I didn't know—"

"Of course you didn't know. Because your stupid arse just charged into the situation without thinking. Why did you do that, Leo? Why didn't you get me? I'm your partner! I'm your best friend!"

"Shacklebolt—"

"No, shut up! I don't want to hear it! You almost died in there, Leo. If we hadn't come when we did, you would be dead right now. And for what? To save Harry bloody Potter? To save some guy who doesn't give a dragon shit about you? What about us? Where would we have been if you had—If you didn't—To hell with you!" Roger's voice cracked and he turned away, looking up at the ceiling.

"Roger, I—" Roger growled with rage and pointed his wand at Leo.

"_Silencio!_" The words abruptly died in Leo's throat. "I cannot believe you'd be so stupid. I cannot believe you'd practically kill yourself for him. I can't work with someone who'd put his life in jeopardy like that, someone who doesn't trust his best friend. So if you want to risk your life foolishly, you can do it with someone else." Leo bolted upright but immediately flopped back down. He pushed the blankets aside and found that he was covered in bandages and whatever gashes they'd been protecting suddenly reopened, causing brilliant red splotches to bloom on the once white surfaces. He tried to shout at Roger not to leave, that he could explain what had happened, but Roger's silencing spell was still on him. He couldn't lose Roger; they'd been friends since their school days. They'd stuck by each other no matter what ridiculous situation they'd gotten themselves into, why would Roger leave him now?_ How_ could Roger leave him now?

Leo found his wand at his bedside table and removed the silencing charm from his throat, but he knew Roger was long gone. Leo sighed, closing his eyes and ignoring the burning pain on his chest and stomach. A part of him wanted to hope that Roger was just angry, that he didn't mean what he said and was just upset at seeing his best friend so unnecessarily close to death. But the other part of him, the part that knew Roger best, was positive that Roger wasn't just throwing around fury induced threats.

"Are you awake?" A soft voice asked him. Leo opened his eyes and turned his head. Cho was standing there, holding a tray containing more bandages and some potions. "Oh thank God!" Cho put the tray down, grabbed Leo's face and showered him with kisses on his cheeks and forehead. A feeling of warmth spread over Leo, causing tears to form in his eyes. He forced them away, though, opting to chuckle weakly at Cho's enthusiasm.

"Is this part of my recovery?" Cho giggled but the feeling of warmth turned cold as he saw that she was crying. "Please don't cry. I really can't handle that right now."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. When I heard—when I saw—they all thought you were dead at first. Everyone worked all day and night to save you. They said you took on thirty Death Eaters alone, is that true?"

"I thought there were only twenty."

"Oh, Leo, you idiot!" Cho scolded, stopping what she was doing. "What were you thinking? Don't they teach you not to do things like that in Auror training?"

"At that moment, Cho, Auror training was the last thing on my mind."

"Well, that was stupid."

"I'm very aware of this. Roger did not hesitate to tell me all about it."

"Roger was scared. We all were. Everyone has come to visit you these last few days: Terry, Michael, Adrian, Eddie. Poor Harry didn't leave until Roger forced him to." Leo did not want to think about what it meant for Harry to have been at his bedside for so long. He really didn't want to think about anything.

"Roger doesn't want me to be his partner anymore."

"He was so scared," Cho repeated. Her voice cracked slightly and her eyes began to tear again, causing Leo's heart to ach horribly. "I'd never seen Roger cry or scream like he did until Healer Marco told him that we might not be able to save you. Healer Marco almost banned him from the ward." Leo closed his eyes again. He would have given anything to not have heard what Cho said. Her being there was not the relief he had hoped for upon first seeing her.

"I'm tired," he said softly.

"Okay. I just need to change your bandages first then I'll give you a potion to help you sleep."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you're all right, Leo." Cho set to work changing his bandages, which were almost supersaturated with his blood by then. She worked quietly and efficiently, only speaking to ask him if they were too tight. When she was sure she'd done a good job and he wouldn't suffocate, she handed him a potion, told him to drink the entire thing, then headed out, leaving Leo alone save for the fellow in the bed next to him, who seemed to be in quite an awful state. Leo drank the whole potion like Cho had told him and instantly felt himself drifting off to sleep.

He was in such a delirious state that he was almost sure he saw Harry Potter standing at the foot of his bed before he completely passed out.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen **

Something made Leo jerk out of a sound, dreamless sleep, and it turned out that that something was Harry Potter. Leo had somehow heard Harry's voice and it roused him from his unconsciousness into the not as desirable waking world.

"It'll be my fault if he doesn't recover." He heard Harry say gloomily. Leo shifted, wondering if Harry had finally snapped and started talking to himself. It wouldn't have surprised him; one can't be The Boy Who Lived without a few consequences, loss of sanity among them. Harry wasn't alone, though, much to Leo's distaste. Hermione Granger was with him, wringing her hands nervously as she watched Leo struggle to awaken.

"Look, Harry, he's waking up," she said, poking Harry on the arm. Harry started to attention, tearing his gaze away from the window. He smiled widely upon seeing Leo, glanced at Hermione, then toned down his joy. Hermione didn't notice, however. She had stood up and was making her way to Leo's bedside. "How are you feeling, Leopold?"

"I'm feeling lucky to have such a beautiful face to wake up to," Leo replied, charmingly. Hermione blushed horribly, giggling like a schoolgirl. Harry stood up and joined her at Leo's side.

"You should feel lucky that Ron isn't here to hear you say that," Harry pointed out, sternly. Hermione blushed again, clearing her throat and Harry laughed, seeing her discomfort.

"You always know how to kill a mood, Potter," Leo said, trying to sit up. He winced and both Harry and Hermione reached for his shoulder to keep him down. Harry caught himself in mid action, though, and snatched his hand away, leaving Hermione to gently tuck Leo back in.

"Cho said your wounds are still partially open and you shouldn't try to move too much," Hermione said, adjusting his bed for him so he didn't have to exert himself.

"What did I do to deserve such fantastic treatment from someone I don't even know?" Leo asked, grinning at Hermione. She grinned back, fluffing his pillows. If this was all it took to get women to pay attention to him, Leo was going to have to consider being almost killed more often.

"You saved my best friend's life. I owe you so much."

"I didn't save his life. His life was never in danger," Leo muttered darkly, suddenly remembering everything Roger had shouted at him. He believed it, of course, because Roger had been too angry to lie. "How long was I asleep, do you know?"

"Probably about a day and a half," Harry answered, a little too quickly. Leo became very positive that Harry had been standing at the foot of his bed before he blacked out, after all. Leo again refused to let himself think about what that meant. "Cho knows for sure, if you want us to get her."

"No, that's all right. Has, uh, has Roger been around?"

"No. I mean—I'm not sure." Leo sighed. He had known the answer would be no before he asked the question, but that didn't make it any less painful to hear. Hermione looked from Leo to Harry then cleared her throat again.

"Excuse me. I'm going to go grab a cup of tea. You can come get me when you're ready to go, Harry." Harry nodded, watching her leave the room. He didn't say anything for a few minutes after she left, keeping his gaze away from Leo's by taking a lot of time to pull up a chair.

"Kingsley told me that the Death Eaters weren't going to kill me, but I think he was wrong."

"What makes you say that?" Harry hesitated, still looking at anything but Leopold. He let out a long, slow breath.

"They tortured me." Leo sat upright too hastily, breaking open his still healing wounds again. He could feel his hot blood seeping through the bandages, but he didn't care. "Merlin, Leo, you shouldn't move so fast—"

"Why didn't you tell that to Shacklebolt?" Leo interrupted him. "Their punishment is going to be lessened without proof of an intent to kill you!"

"It doesn't really matter."

"Yes it does, don't you want them to get what they deserve?"

"I'm fine, though. If anything, they came closer to killing you than me." Leo sat back, shaking his head. His chest burned terribly and he winced as he pushed the sheets aside to inspect the damage. Splotches of blood were clearly visible on the bandages. "Do you want me to call Cho?"

"No, I'm all right."

"But you're bleeding—"

"I'm all right, Harry," Leo snapped. They stared at each other, Harry still ready to argue and Leo ready to refute. "I'm telling Shacklebolt what you just told me."

"Well then, I'll tell him about your and Roger's creative time keeping." Harry smirked mischievously, but Leo was not amused. Where did Harry get off withholding information from the Ministry? Leo practically killed himself to rescue him, didn't that mean anything to Harry? Or was he just used to people laying down their lives for him that he just didn't care anymore? Maybe Roger was right; Leo didn't matter to Harry so suicidally running into that building was ridiculous in more ways than one.

"I'm not joking, Harry. They were planning on killing you, that's not something to be taken lightly." Harry leaned forward, resting his elbows on the edge of Leo's bed. He looked Leo directly in the eyes, making Leo both uncomfortable yet strangely lighthearted. It suddenly became too intense for him and he quickly turned his gaze away.

"Am I to understand that Leopold Anthony Ackerley was concerned about my life?"

"Only because Harry James Potter can't seem to save his own life."

"Yeah, I'm only good at saving the world." Leo chuckled, waving his arm dismissively. He turned back to Harry to find an unreadable expression in the other man's face. Leo abruptly became aware of how close Harry's face was to his.

"I knew you were going to say that. You've become so predictable in your old age, Potter." Harry laughed softly. Leo found himself noticing odd things about Harry due to his proximity; the curve of his jaw, the slight upturn of his nose, how his eyes were so green they almost looked fake. And then he found himself noticing how soft Harry's lips were, and how smooth Harry's unruly hair felt between his fingers.

They only kissed for no more than a minute, but all concept of time left Leo the moment his lips were pressed against Harry's. When they broke apart, they looked at each other in shock for a second before locking together again, this time with an air of desperation for more and apprehension for what they were doing. It was so mutual: they both pulled each other closer, both quickened their breath in excitement, both seemed to stop thinking and act through instinct.

The loud bang of the door opening snapped them back into reality and they flew apart so quickly no one would have ever known they had once been so close even air couldn't get between them.

"Hi, Harry. Oh Leo, you're awake! You must be starving. How are you feeling?" Cho bustled in cheerfully, carrying a tray of fresh bandages again.

"I suppose I could do with a bit of food," Leo replied absently. He could still feel Harry's lips against his and he looked at Harry to gauge his reaction to Cho's arrival. Harry's expression was blank as he watched Cho; his eyes were slightly unfocused as though he were in a completely different universe. Leo wanted to smirk and tell Harry not to worry; he had that effect on everyone he kissed.

"That's good. Having an appetite means you're healing nicely. Let me just change your bandages then I'll grab you some food, all right?" Cho put her tray down with a clang, pushing back Leo's bed sheets to inspect the damage.

"Yeah, all right."

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," she said, unwrapping Leo. If only she knew. "I actually forgot you were here, Harry, I'm sorry." There was no reply and both Leo and Cho turned to where Harry had been sitting to find him gone.

"Merlin," Leo mumbled. The moment Leo thought he understood one thing something else came along and confused the holy hell out of him. Harry's vanishing act felt almost as bad as Roger's murdering of a ten-year friendship. Harry hadn't even thanked Leo for saving his life. Bitterness began flowing through him, overriding the confusion. Leo realized that that was it; Harry didn't belong to him. He could steal kisses all he wanted, but Harry's heart was property of a ferocious red haired woman with incredible aim.

"I didn't even hear him leave. Did you?"

"No. But I think the visit was over, anyway."


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

The once messy half of the cubicle that had belonged to Roger was empty. It was heart breaking. And Leo just stood in the doorway, staring at the broken quill on the floor that was the only indication that someone once occupied that area. The scars on his chest burned slightly, but he was starting to get used to the feeling. Healer Marco had said that since they were curse scars, they'd take a little while longer to heal. But Leo was quite sure his chest would have hurt regardless.

They'd kept him in the hospital for over a week, claiming they were just making sure he hadn't been hit with a curse they didn't detect at first. The days went by as a mixture of hellish and bearable. His parents visited him the day after his one sided argument with Roger. His mother brought three pies with her, alternating between yelling at him and kissing him in relief. His father told him it was stupid to have gone in the building alone, but when his mother went to get coffee, he told Leopold that he was proud of him, in true Gryffindor fashion. The next day they brought Stewart with them, who gave Leo a huge box of Bernie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and lamented jokingly that he was unfairly deprived of only childom.

Some reporters from the_Daily Prophet_ tried to weasel information out of him, but as he hadn't been to headquarters since the incident, he had no idea what he was allowed to say. He merely told them that he had foolishly charged into the building alone, and if it hadn't been for his fellow Aurors, he wouldn't be around to answer their questions.

Michael and Terry came by as well, Michael just as furious with Leo as Roger had been, Terry a bit more understanding. Neither denied him friendship, though, both staying until visiting hours were over to play poker with him. When Leo had asked about Roger, however, they gained looks of pity and anger, saying Roger didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Leo had refused to see anyone after that and was relieved when Healer Marco finally let him leave. Cho escorted him to his flat, where Terry, Michael, Adrian, Eddie, Jonathan, and others were waiting with a welcome home banner on the wall and a party on their minds. Cho laughingly told them that Leo had to take it easy on the firewhiskey, but no one listened. Leo quietly got drunker and drunker as the fact that Roger really _didn't _want to have anything to do with him anymore slowly sunk in. For the first time, Leo felt hollow and no amount of firewhiskey could fill him.

"He put in a request for a new partner yesterday," Kingsley Shacklebolt said from behind Leopold.

"I've noticed," Leo replied under his breath.

"I told him I wouldn't give him one. So he quit." Leo's head snapped up and he looked at Shaklebolt. "Perhaps you can talk him into coming back?"

"He does not want to talk to me."

"When has that ever stopped you from opening your mouth?"

"Touché, sir."

"I need to have a word with you, actually."

"Right. Your office it is." Leo followed Shacklebolt along the all too familiar path to his office. Leo sat down in the big plush chair, involuntarily putting his head in his hands in weariness.

"Are you all right, Ackerley?"

"Fine, sir."

"The healers tell me you should make a full recovery."

"You don't say."

"Do you need to take some time off? Perhaps visit the shore for a holiday?"

"No. That's the last thing I need."

"I owe you an apology, Ackerley," Shacklebolt began. Leo raised his head in surprise. He wasn't quite sure he heard correctly. "It was my fault you so foolhardily went to that building alone. I realized that I have been putting a lot of, shall we say, undue pressure on you about the Potter case."

"That's an understatement."

"I'm leaving it up to you to decide what you'd like to do next."

"What can I do? My reputation will never be the same, I lost my best friend, and I'm_married_ to the guy! What's left for me to do? I think I've run the gamut of things left to accomplish in my life. I've hit rock bloody bottom, what the hell would _you_ do?" Leopold snapped angrily. He hadn't meant to yell at Shacklebolt like that, it just sort of poured out of him involuntarily. This was Shacklebolt's fault, after all. All of it. Leo had led a quiet, uneventful, women-filled existence before Shacklebolt unleashed this unholy mess upon him. Shacklebolt stared at him, slightly shocked at Leo's outburst, but no less understanding. "I'm sorry, sir. Can I just—can I get back to work?" Leo's scars were burning again and he briefly wished that the cuts had been deep enough to kill him. He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind, though, standing up to leave Shacklebolt's office.

"Are you sure you're okay to work?" At that moment, Leo wasn't sure if he was even okay to walk, but he decided not to look a gift hippogriff in the mouth.

"Actually, can I take the day off? I mean, it's Thursday and I hardly work on Fridays as it is. I'm sure after a nice long weekend, I'll be ready and raring to go to perform my important ministry approved duties."

"Yes, well, you only have seven sick days left. Use them wisely."

"I shall keep that in mind, sir." Leopold turned to leave but paused. "I do not accept your apology, by the way. At least not yet." With that, Leo walked out of the office and almost walked into Ernie Macmillan.

"Leo! So glad to see you're all right. You had us worried, mate."

"Yeah, thanks, Macmillan. I'm so happy to have been in your thoughts." Ernie ignored Leo's scathing sarcasm. He actually beamed, puffing up his chest a bit.

"I was about to talk to Shacklebolt about you, to tell the truth. Did you know I was chosen as a full fledged Auror?"

"Were you now? Congratulations." Ernie again didn't seem to catch Leo's lack of enthusiasm. He seemed proud to have been congratulated by a veteran Auror. Leo resisted the urge to walk away and leave Ernie alone with his ego.

"Thanks. Anyway, I heard you were in need of a new partner, and I figured that since we work so well together—"

"I'm going to have to stop you there, Macmillan. I'm not in the market for a new partner, as it were."

"But I heard that Roger—" Leo raised his voice to block out Macmillan's words. He really didn't want to hear this weasel's take on Leo's failed friendship.

"I'm going to be working solo for a little while. If it happens that I need a partner after that, I'll know who to call on." Leopold walked away before Ernie could answer. He quickly headed to the lift and out the main entrance of the ministry, hoping that no one else would stop him.

Leopold instinctively headed to the Leaky Cauldron, lifting the hood of his cloak to shield himself from the coming cold. He realized, however, that going to the Leaky alone wasn't as good as having company. So Leopold kept walking, not really paying attention to where he was going until he ran into someone.

"I'm sorry—oh. Hi." Leo looked up to find Harry looking at him almost sheepishly, his hands shoved, of course, in his pockets. He was bundled up tightly, scarf wrapped around his mouth and nose. Leopold shifted uneasily, trying to smile casually but failing miserably. He looked at everything but Harry until finally, he foolishly met the other man's stare.

"Hi," his voice was muffled, but still distinct. His eyes flashed behind his glasses and Leo was torn between running away from him and hugging him. "All right?"

"As all right as can be expected. There may be some scarring and I lost my partner, but collateral damage, right?" Harry raised his eyebrows, which looked almost comical with his extreme bundling. Leo was reminded of how young Potter actually was.

"What happened to Roger?"

"I was almost killed so he never wants to see me again. Quit the department and everything." It hurt Leo to say it out loud, but more importantly it hurt him to say it to Potter. It wasn't really his fault that Leo had gone on that suicide mission to save him. Leo couldn't, and didn't want to, blame anyone but himself. And Shacklebolt.

"I don't understand."

"I do, but that's why we were friends." Harry paused, shifting his weight from foot to foot either to keep himself warm or to distract himself. Leo sighed and looked away again. He wanted to leave, he wanted to get a drink, he wanted to know how he was supposed to act around Harry now.

"I didn't get a chance to say it before, but thank you for rescuing me. I—er—I know it wasn't easy for you, but I really appreciate it." Harry took a step forward, lowering the scarf, and Leo unconsciously took one back. A strange look of hurt briefly crossed Harry's face. Leo regretted it instantly and was once more torn between running away and hugging the man.

"Wasn't easy? Ha, I'm a ministry trained Auror. It was nothing. I'd do it again, in fact. Those dastardly fellows didn't know what was coming to them." Leo pretended to duel with an unseen person in a halfhearted attempt to be playful. Harry reached out and grabbed Leo's arm.

"Shut up, Leo."

"You know, I'm tired of being told to shut up," Leopold said, wrenching his arm out of Harry's grasp. "I have to go. It's cold out here." Which was true; mid November and already the cold was powerful enough to set into one's bones. It didn't help that Harry was staring at Leo with his cold, shrewd green eyes. Leo started to walk away, rethinking his decision not to go to the Leaky.

"Don't—I have to tell you something," Harry mumbled, an unsaid plea infused within the statement.

"What? You already thanked me."

"Yeah, it's not that it's—" As Leo watched Harry struggle to find the right words it became clear to him and he realized that he didn't want Harry to say anything. That acknowledging it would make it both real and unbearable. There would be others, he was sure. And after this ordeal, Leo had managed to double his chances of finding someone else. That thought, coupled with Harry's endearing uncertainty, made Leo smile.

"How's Ginny?" Harry stared at Leo for a moment and Leo was unsure if Harry understood that Leo knew what Harry was trying to say and was partially grateful for it.

"Ginny…Ginny says she wants to get back together," Harry said. He looked down at his booted feet, his voice sounding slightly pained. "She said that my getting nabbed put things in perspective." Leo didn't know what to say. His mind had inexplicably clouded over once Harry answered the question. His words wrapped Leo in a kind of stifling fog that even the cold couldn't penetrate. Leo had expected it but that didn't mean he wanted it to be true. Of course she wanted Harry back and Harry should go back. That was how it was supposed to be.

"Well, that's good, isn't it? I don't have to hang around you anymore and you're reunited with the vivacious love of your life. Everyone wins." Harry hesitated, watching Leo cautiously. Leo carefully kept his face blank, taking another unconscious step backward. He wouldn't feel right about making this any harder for Harry than it already was. Love shouldn't be bottled up, but on the other hand, it shouldn't ruin one's life either.

"Right," Harry replied softly. "Right."

"Yeah," Leo whispered, glancing away again. "Everyone wins." They both fell silent, a cold wind whipping across them unmercifully. Harry cleared his throat and Leo looked at him. Harry tried to smile but seemed to give up halfway.

"I'll see you around the department, then?"

"No. I don't think you will."

"What?"

"I think I'm going to try my hand at the Department of International Magical Cooperation. I need to brush up on my Gobbledegook first, though." Leo was as surprised at his sudden decision as Harry was. But Leo knew, once he said it, that it was the right one to have made. His mother was right, he had to determine if he had what it took to be an Auror, and when he thought about it, he didn't think he did.

"Oh. Well, good luck."

"Thanks. Right back at you." Leo turned and started walking away. Then he stopped, knowing it couldn't just end like this, unsaid yet strongly felt words between them. "Oh and, Potter?"

"Yeah?"

"See you Friday at the Leaky?" A slow smile played across Harry's face. He shoved his hands into his pockets once more, slipping back into his arrogant Gryffindor persona. Leo was glad for it.

"Sure. I'll even let you buy me a drink."

"A dubious honor I'm willing to accept."


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen: Final Chapter**

"Leo! It's lunchtime. Are you ready?" Leo looked up from the photograph he'd be analyzing in time to see Miles Bletchley bound excitedly into his office. Patricia Stimpson was following close behind already bundled up to brace the cold.

"Lunch already? What's the time?" Leo asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He'd been staring at the photo for a good hour, still unable to decipher where exactly the breach of law had occurred. He had to admit that a lot of the time he'd spent staring at the space around the photograph thinking about the departments that would probably have a firewhiskey stash he could pilfer. But he was glad for the interruption, regardless.

"Noon, man, let's go. I've been ready to eat since eleven but Patricia made me wait," Bletchley whined, throwing Patricia a foul look.

"Some of us had work to get done, Miles, we're not all lazy like you," Patricia replied, folding her arms across her chest indignantly.

"I resent that and I demand you buy me a drink at lunch."

"You two ought to get married and do us a favor," Leo cut off Patricia's response. They both made noises of extreme protest as Leo gathered his cloak and coat and followed them out of his office. They continued to argue as the three of them headed to the lifts. Leo eventually tuned them out. This had become his monotonous routine in Magical Cooperation: wake up, go to work, immerse himself in tedium, eat lunch with the bicker twins, come back for more tedium, then go home.

It was driving Leo insane.

He missed the unpredictability of being an Auror. He missed going out on strange cases with Roger. He missed solving those cases and celebrating his cleverness. He missed forcing trainees to fill out his paperwork. He even missed Kingsley Shacklebolt. Well, he missed the idea of Kingsley Shacklebolt, at least.

He wasn't sure what he should do now that he realized the one decision he made in good faith turned out not to be the right one. There was no one he could talk to who could possibly have good advice.

Except maybe Roger.

Rumor around the ministry was that after Leo quit, Shacklebolt somehow persuaded Roger to rejoin. And perhaps it was because he was partnered with Harry Potter or because Roger willingly came back because of Leo's absence, but the situation burned Leo more than his former wounds ever did. Leo was too afraid of what Roger would say to try and talk to him again. Their usual group drinking outings, while still rather fun with their ever growing circle of friends now that Harry had joined and brought Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and sometimes Gruesome Ginny with him, were oftentimes incredibly awkward and depressing, and Leo found himself going home with random witches just to keep his mind off of his former best friend. And although he was civil with Harry, friendly even, Leo couldn't help but growl in jealousy whenever he saw Harry and Ginny together.

"Hey, Leo? Are you all right?" Patricia asked kindly, watching Leo with concerned green eyes as they stepped onto the lift.

"Yes. Fine. But I'm not very hungry, now that I think about it. You guys don't mind if I skip lunch today, do you?"

"That's fine with us as long as you're okay." They stopped walking, and Patricia patted Leo kindly on the arm. Leo smiled, nodded, and they squashed in the lift with about four other wizards. As the grates clattered shut, Leo could hear Miles whining about having to wait for Leo for no reason. Leo sighed, hesitated for a moment, then pushed the button to summon a lift of his own. He rode alone, smiling a little to himself with the voice announced his arrival to his previous home away from home.

"Well, Ackerley. I never thought I'd see you on this level again. What brings you here? Something Magical Cooperation couldn't handle?" Samantha Fawcett teased, stepping onto the recently vacated lift. "I must say, it's not the same around here without you slacking off." And with a little wave, she was whisked away.

Leopold hesitated before continuing on. Perhaps wandering around his former department wasn't such a good idea. Yet he didn't leave, he just walked the beaten path to the office on the corner, an office he'd spent more time in than he cared to admit.

"I don't actually remember what the man said," a familiar voice said sheepishly. "I wasn't, ah, paying attention."

"You've been doing this for three years, shouldn't you know how to run a case by now?" Another familiar voice scoffed.

"I know how to run a case, don't talk down to me you—" Leopold stood in the doorway of his former cubical. Roger cut his sentence short upon seeing his ex-partner. Several emotions passed across his face in rapid succession. He went from excited to confused to angry in seconds. The anger was what shone through the most. "You."

"Hey," Leo said, addressing both Harry, who had looked annoyed before he noticed Leo but now looked nervous, and Roger. Leo noticed that Harry hadn't decorated his side of the cubical at all, whereas Roger's was exactly the way it was before he quit. It was odd to see someone else sitting at his desk, but Harry made it odder by not claiming the desk as his own. Did he expect Leo to come back and claim it?

"Hi," Harry replied. He glanced from Leo to Roger and cleared his throat.

"What do you want?" Roger demanded hotly.

"I was wondering if I could have a word."

"No." Leo sighed, looking up at Harry. Harry shrugged and winced, not at all encouraging. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

"Roger, please." Roger didn't reply, he merely continued to write his report with noticeable force on his quill. After a second it snapped and he snarled, rummaging around in his desk to find another.

"Er, I'm going to get some coffee," Harry said, awkwardly. He stood up and made his way to the door. He paused before exiting, briefly squeezing Leo's arm in reassurance. His touch sent chills across Leo's body, but Leo kept himself focused on what he was going to say to Roger. It took all his willpower not to run his fingers along Harry's soft brown hand. It was going after Harry that got Leo in this mess to begin with.

"You don't have to leave," Roger said, finally looking up from his work. "This shouldn't take long." Harry froze at the door, gazing imploringly at Leo. He looked like he wanted to do anything but stay there. Leopold could almost hear him trying to think of reasons to leave.

"Roger, honestly, you're being a child," Leo snapped.

"Harry doesn't have to flee from his own office because you barged in."

"I'm not fleeing, I'm getting coffee. I like coffee; it'll be an adventure. Merlin knows I haven't had one of those in a while." And Harry hurried off before Roger could object. Roger glared at Leo for a moment before sighing and turning away. Leopold slowly stepped further into the office.

"Just go, Leo."

"Come on, Roger. This is ridiculous. We've been friends for years and you just drop me for this? I'm sorry! I didn't think. Can't you just let it go?"

"Let it go? Let it_go_? You almost _died_, Leo! Do you just not care?"

"Of course I care! I was scared as hell that night. I would have given anything to have you there with me. But I just _did_ it, Roger. I didn't think about it. I didn't purposely go without you. Shacklebolt threatened to sack me or worse and I just had so much on my mind so I went. I charged into that stupid building with a blank mind. I couldn't even tell you how I got out of there alive." Instead of easing Roger's anger, Leo only seemed to be making it worse. He just wanted to know what Roger wanted from him. There was no way Leo was going to let this friendship die because of Harry Potter.

"You obviously don't need me, Leo, so what's the problem?" Now Leo was getting angry. Did Roger think he wanted to play the hero when he ran into that building? If he only knew how terrified Leo had been at the time, how he couldn't stop envisioning horrible things happening to Harry and how much that frightened him. How when he heard the Killing Curse thrown at him, his life flashed before his eyes. How if he had a time turner, he'd go back and stop himself from going into that building without backup. But Leo didn't tell him all of that. He didn't know if he could say all of that, even if Roger was his best friend.

"All right. Fine, Roger. I'm not going to argue with you. I don't have the energy for this. You want to be a git about it, that's okay with me." Leo turned back and headed out of the office. He passed the break room on the way and kept his eyes down. He heard Harry making exaggerated coffee producing noises so as to drown out the sounds of a broken friendship. Leo didn't look up until he was at the lift.

He supposed he could somehow get used to not having Roger in his life anymore. His mother was right: he was a grown man. Things changed. He didn't like it and it made him intensely miserable, but such was life.

Leo furiously jabbed the button to summon the lift. This was all Shacklebolt's fault.

As the golden grates clanged open, Leo heard quick footsteps behind him. Thinking someone was trying to catch the lift before it took off, Leo stepped inside without looking back.

"Wait, Leo." Leo spun around and was shocked to find Roger standing before him. The grates began to close and Leo almost let them, but instead he stuck his hand out to stop them at the last minute.

"What?"

"You're sorry."

"That's what I said."

"And you won't do something stupid like that again."

"I'm not planning on it, no." Roger opened his mouth to say something, closed it, and glanced away. Leo waited, hoping, hand gripping the grate tightly.

"Do you want to go get lunch?" He said, finally. Leo frowned, confused by the unexpected question. Slowly pure elation replaced his confusion as he realized that this was Roger's thickheaded way of saying he forgave him. Leo couldn't put his relief into words, he simply stepped out of the lift, a large and extremely goofy smile on his face.

"Are you buying?"

"Hell no. You should be paying for my lunches for the rest of your life. My forgiveness doesn't come cheap, you know."

"Yeah, but the rest of you does." They paused, Roger snorted resentfully, and they laughed. It was probably the most forced and awkward laugh they had ever shared, yet Leo didn't care. All that mattered to him was that they were laughing, and as long as Leopold didn't find himself on the verge of death again, they'd keep sharing laughs.

"I take you back and the first thing you do is insult me? Perhaps I should rethink this friendship thing."

"Admit it, Roger. You need me. I heard what Harry said about your lack of Auror skills."

"I've been rather preoccupied. My best friend and partner recently abandoned me and I was quite used to him doing all the busy work."

"Excuses excuses." Leo glanced at Roger, who was smiling just as goofily as Leo was. "Do you think Shacklebolt will give me my job back?"

"Well considering the man almost got you killed, I'd say he owes you a favor. But who knows with that bloke."

"If I spend one more day in Magical Cooperation, I just may go insane."

"Stop being so dramatic, Leo."

* * *

Thanks for reading! 


	19. Epilogue

**Here's a holiday present for I guess whoever enjoyed the story enough to want a present. This is really the last chapter, I'm not writing anymore. But I thank the people who took the time to review, it was really appreciated. Enjoy and thanks for reading. :) **

**Epilogue-19 Days Later**

He had to be discreet. Secretive. He had to use the skills he'd learned in three years of being an Auror that allowed him to blend in when he didn't want to be seen.

He had to be not at all like his usual self.

Leopold always enjoyed Christmas. It was an incredibly happy time for him in his childhood, and that tradition continued throughout his life. Good friends, good food, time off; it was all a recipe for Leo to smile from ear to ear for two weeks straight. And of course, the multitude of presents was an added bonus. He liked getting presents, like every other human being, but this year he decided he was going to do something for himself.

He'd come up with the idea at the Leaky one night after work. He sat at the bar, vaguely depressed and well on his way to being too drunk for a Wednesday night. He was watching the young, pretty women—they were always pretty after his third or fourth firewhiskey—twirl and sparkle around him as they grinned and flirted with the young pretty men who wanted them. Leopold tried not to think about the time when he used to be one of those men, always with a girl on his arm and a drink in his hand, but the more he drank and the more he watched, the more melancholy he became. And that of course, led to more drinks. It was a vicious and delicious cycle.

Leo slumped a little in his barstool, toeing the line between going home and getting another drink, when a beautiful yet terribly inebriated woman saddled up next to him and placed her hand startlingly close to his wand. Not the one that was tucked in his cloak pocket, that is.

"You don't look gay to me," she slurred, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. She fixed her blue eyes on his and had the air of someone who was more than willing to tackle Leo if such a need arose. Leo carefully moved her hand, smiling charmingly at her so as to not set off an alarm. He didn't mind forward women, but this was a bit more than he was used to.

"Oh. Well, all right."

"_Witch Weekly_ and the _Prophet_ have said you are, but I just don't see it," she continued. She slid her stool closer to him, close enough to slip into his lap, which he was fairly positive she was about to do anyway.

"I—um…" For the first time since he'd learned to speak, Leopold Ackerley was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure how to reply to someone stating he wasn't what half the wizarding world said he was. But he supposed she was right. He had never been attracted to another man before Harry Potter. Whenever he was feeling lonely, it was women he sought out, not men. Why was that? Had Harry Potter truly been the only man Leopold would go gay for? Was that even possible?

She batted her long lashes at him and somehow managed to get her hand out of Leopold's grasp and back onto his leg. She smiled up at him, a slow seductive smile, and Leo knew he wouldn't be able to resist her for much longer.

"Can you prove it to me?"

"Prove that I'm gay? I don't think I can," he said, both amused and a bit frightened. "I'm actually pretty sure I can't."

"Then prove to me you're straight." The music seemed to surge and the din of the crowd grew to a head throbbing pitch. Or perhaps that was just the mixture of the alcohol and this witch who didn't seem like she was willing to walk out of the Leaky without Leo. The witch leaned forward, pressing her lips to Leo's ear to make sure she was heard. "I know you can do that." Leo chuckled softly just as something gold caught his eye. He looked down and realized, not for the first time, that he was still wearing the wedding ring. He wouldn't have been able to tell anyone why, if asked, but he also couldn't bring himself to take it off either. It didn't help that he was fairly positive that Harry Potter had probably taken his off long ago. Quite possibly the moment Ginevra Weasley agreed to take him back.

"Just out of curiosity, why don't you think I'm gay?"

"I always see you here talking to women. The only men I've seen you with are the ones in your rather large group of friends." Leo smiled, thinking about what Roger would say were he there now. Probably something along the lines of Leo being too broken hearted to look at another guy.

"I suppose those are the only men I hang around."

"And there are plenty of gay men around here for you. So you must not be gay. Which is lucky for me because you are way too attractive for that." She leaned forward again, this time aiming for a kiss. Leo was about to oblige her when it occurred to him that she was right, even in her advanced drunken state. He hadn't looked at a man since the end of his Harry Potter era, he hadn't even thought of it. He guessed it was true what Roger said about him going both ways, but it had to be more complicated than that. It had to be deeper, maybe something with Harry himself. Something unresolved—

"My God. I'm _still_ in love with him!" Leo blurted out, denying the witch of her much-earned kiss.

"No, no, no! You're not in love with anyone. Here, I'll show you—" But Leo wasn't listening. He needed to think and the raucous group of Wednesday night revelers was not making that easy.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but I must go. Someone has my heart and it seems that I won't be able to show anyone a good time until I get it back." And he hurried off into the cold night air, the beginnings of his creepy yet satisfying idea already forming in his rapidly sobering mind.

"Are you all right, mate? You seem awfully sneaky today," Roger said after Leo downed his third cup of coffee in an hour. Leo had been thinking about the possible ways in which is plan could go horribly wrong or horribly right. "Leo! I'm talking to you!"

"What? Oh, I'm fine. Just a little distracted, really. Our holiday starts in three hours, aren't you excited?"

"I'm more excited about the Christmas party, to tell you the truth. You remember last year's party? And this year promises to be more incredible. Did I tell you that Padma Patil is going to be there? Merlin, my heart goes all wonky when I think about it. Utter perfection, that girl is. I must remember to thank the generous person who invited her. This will be the best Christmas ever."

"I heard Padma was dating someone," Leo said absently, not really sure if he'd heard that or not.

"Why do you have to ruin it, Leo? You couldn't let me have that little bit of joy in my life?"

"Just trying to keep realism in your life along with the joy. I'm sure she'll let loose her morals for one night with the legendary Roger Davies, though." Roger smirked, throwing a Chocolate Frog at Leo's head. The frog bounced off Leo's nose and hopped across the desk before Leo stopped it with a well-placed stunning spell. This new revelation that the frogs were susceptible to stunners caused Leo and Roger to look at each other in surprise, then proceed to open every packet of Chocolate Frogs they had and take turns stunning the hell out of them. Soon there were little puddles of melted chocolate all over their desks. Christmas never failed to bring out the children in them.

"Are Harry and company coming to the party? Did you invite them?"

"I did not, but I'm sure Cho did."

"Hm. You all right with that?"

"I'm fine with it. I've seen Harry around since the annulment. He and his friends hang out with us on Fridays, remember?" They day he and Harry annulled their marriage was probably one of the weirdest days of his life. While he was eternally grateful to not have to participate in Shaklebolt's ridiculous experiment anymore, it also left Leopold without a reason to hang around Harry. Saying hello in the corridors just wasn't the same without the tension of an uncomfortable, forced gay marriage.

"Yeah, but you haven't seen him with Lady Weasley. And you know how much Cho likes mistletoe. She probably covered her whole house it in. He and Madam Weasley are going to be glued together the whole night." Leopold looked up from his torture of the last Chocolate Frog, startled. The image of Harry and Ginny snogging all over CHo's house was not something he needed at that moment, and he was rather surprised Roger was malicious enough not to care.

"Wow, Roger. I had been trying not to think about that, but thanks for making it unavoidable."

"Next time you'll keep your comments about Padma's potential boyfriends to yourself, won't you?"

"Or I'll just make sure they're more painful." Roger brandished his wand in a mock dueling stance and Leo, not one to ignore a challenge, did the same. Roger threw a Terentella curse at Leo, who blocked it and countered with a Jelly Legs Jinx. This went on for several minutes before a voice broke into the fun.

"Hey guys." Leo and Roger looked up at the door to find Susan Bones standing there, eyebrow raised quizzically. She looked at the chocolate puddles and their over exaggerated dueling stances and frowned. "Um, am I interrupting?"

"Of course you are. Ackerley and I were just reenacting an important case and we were just about to make a breakthrough." Roger dropped his wand arm to his side. Leo resisted the urge to hex him anyway.

"Really? Well, it looks like you've been playing with Chocolate Frogs and goofing off. But I've only been an Auror for a few months, so I can't really say," Susan replied with a sardonic smile.

"You'll learn that the two are one in the same sometimes. You just need more experience," Leopold said, hastily cleaning up the discarded Frog wrappers. Roger started casting cleaning spells on their desks.

"I have so much to learn. Anyway, Ernie blew up half of his desk trying to secretly brew his own batch of eggnog, so Shacklebolt's letting us leave early. Our office is so full of smoke we can hardly breathe, it'll take hours to clean the mess. And Ernie had to pop over to the hospital. I'll see you at the Christmas party, then."

"Yeah, yeah. See you later," Leo and Roger responded.

"Try not to work too hard." She turned and headed off, brown plait swinging against her back.

"Why don't you blow something up so we can go home early, too?" Roger pouted.

"Because if I step a toe out of line Shacklebolt will not hesitate to sack me. You saw how reluctant he was to take me back." Leo stretched out, yawning hugely. It was immensely boring right before the holidays. No one wanted to commit crimes during such a joyous season.

"He was just joking. He didn't want to seem needy."

"Either way, I'd rather not take my chances. I'll fully support you if you decide to blow something up, however." Leo refrained from pointing out that a crucial part of his plan required him to stay until it was really time to leave. Roger actually didn't know about the plan and Leo felt like a creep gossiping about it, so he kept it to himself, doing the secretive stealthy thing that was all too foreign to him.

"I'm pretty sure Shacklebolt's good faith in begging me to come back does not extend to rendering half our office unusable."

"Hm. Looks like we're in for the duration, mate."

"This is going to be the longest three hours of our lives."

"Shall I get us coffee to quell the pain?"

"As long as by coffee you mean firewhiskey."

"No, but you can pretend that I do." Roger sighed most tragically as Leo headed to the break room. On the way he passed the office Harry shared with Dean Thomas. They both appeared to be working diligently, which made Leo smile as he thought of all the time wasting he and Roger were doing. Leo pulled out his wand and silently cast the Reductor spell on both of their inkbottles. They exploded, Potter and Thomas shouting with surprise.

"What the hell was that?" Thomas asked. Leopold quickly ducked into the break room and busied himself with the coffee.

As he passed by again, he saw them with their wands out, trying to clean up the ink splotches that now decorated their space.

"What happened here?" Leo asked in heavily exaggerated curiosity. "Ink is for quills, gents, not for aesthetics."

"Shut up, Leo. Someone made our ink explode," Harry growled.

"Ah. Well, go get some new bottles and get back to work," Leo advised. Harry glared at Leo bitterly.

"Thanks for that moment of brilliance, Leo. What would I do without you?" Harry said sarcastically.

"I expect you'd be dead, but I could just be exaggerating." Harry rolled his eyes and Leo grinned in triumph, hurrying off to deposit the coffee.

"What took you so long—where are you going now?" Roger demanded. Leo placed both cups on his desk and turned to leave again.

"Be right back, I forgot something."

Leo sauntered over to the supply closet and peeked inside. Harry was rummaging around, muttering angrily to himself. Quietly, Leo slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. Harry whirled around, startled, then relaxed when he saw who it was.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, turning back to the shelves to find his ink. Leo was pretty sure Harry wasn't going to find any if he didn't look harder than he was. A wizarding supply closet was a good place to hide things.

"Is it a crime to go in the supply closet now?"

"Why did you shut the door?"

"Reflex." Leo began playing with a quill, using it to brush the dust that had accumulated everywhere. "I actually wanted to…talk with you, Potter."

"Oh yeah," Harry grumbled, head buried in a box of parchment. "About what?"

"About our previous engagement, so to speak." Harry started, quickly standing up straight and looking at Leo.

"What? Why would you want to talk about that?" He went back to his search. "How is there no ink in here?"

"You're just not looking hard enough." Harry froze, dropped the bundle of quills he was holding, and slowly turned around. Leo could see comprehension in his eyes and he tried not to laugh.

"Have you hidden the inkbottles?"

"I may have moved them while hunting for other things."

"And you made my and Dean's ink explode, didn't you?"

"My wand might have slipped as I passed by your office."

"You are an absolute nutter, Leo. You owe us some ink." Harry moved forward to exit the closet, but Leopold blocked his way. "Come on, you're in the way. I have work to do."

Leopold raised an eyebrow. "Thomas can survive without you."

"You're crazy, mate. Let me out." Harry reached out and grabbed Leo to push him away. Instead he pulled Leo closer and enveloped him in a kiss. Leo was shocked at first, yet he found himself tangling his fingers within Harry's messy black hair.

_Best Christmas present ever_—

"Leo! Hello! Mr. Ackerley. Shacklebolt won't like you sleeping on the job." Leopold's eyes flew open and an intense feeling of disappointment overwhelmed him. It was just a dream. A disturbingly amazing dream, but a dream nonetheless. He glanced up and found Harry Potter looking down at him, a smile on his face. He was propped up on Leo's desk. "What were you dreaming about? You were grinning like a madman."

"The best Christmas present ever, apparently."

"Hm. Well, I'm sorry to bring you back to reality, but I figured you'd want to get ready to go." Leo sat up and instantly regretted it. He now had pain in places he didn't even know could feel pain. Harry snorted. "You, ah, have a little ink on your face. And by a little, I mean a whole lot." There was a wide ink stain on Leopold's desk and he groaned. He had fallen asleep on his quill. Leo scrubbed blindly at his face as Harry laughed at his awkwardness.

"Come on, tell me where it is so I can get it off," Leo whined. He was never cheerful when he was unceremoniously woken up from especially satisfying naps.

"It's all over. Here, let me get it." Harry pulled out his wand and gently touched Leo's cheek with it. The place where the wand touched grew warm until he pulled the wand away. "All right."

"Should I even trust you to not have turned it into something far worse?"

"If you can't trust your former husband, who can you trust?" Potter laughed at his own joke and Leo shook his head, trying not to laugh with him.

"Where's Roger?"

"Upstairs. He said something about bothering Unspeakables. He'll probably be back soon. We can leave in a half hour." Leo glanced around, wondering how much of that dream was an actual dream. He spotted a half finished report on Roger's desk and the bowl of Chocolate Frogs was still overflowing. He sighed. It was _all _a dream. Right back to the creepy stalker-like plan he had to corner Harry Potter and snog him senseless. Leo wasn't sure if he was relieved to have not been so sinister in real life or despondent that he didn't think of a plan to get rid of this undying love for Potter. "So what was your best Christmas present, then?" Leo brought his gaze back to the bespectacled man who was now looking at him quizzically. Harry had a slight smirk on his face and seemed oddly playful.

"You're in a good mood. Who are you and what have you done to the surly Mr. Potter?"

"Ugh, shut up, Leo. I'm not always serious. I'm going to see my godson this evening, so I have to get into two year old mode. Besides, who can be serious at this time of year?" Harry plucked a Chocolate Frog out of the bowl. He unwrapped it and made to eat it until he saw how intently Leo was looking at him. "Oh, sorry. Did you want this?"

"What? No. Take it. Consider it your Christmas gift." Harry shoved the Frog into his mouth, smiling.

"You will go down as the most generous man in history. Father Christmas has nothing on you."

"Generosity is an Ackerley family trait. I'm sure many men would agree with me after meeting Cousin Helena." Harry laughed again, this time Leo didn't stop himself from joining in. When their laughter subsided, Leo was suddenly aware of how close Harry was to him. He felt like he could see every minute detail of the man, right down to the flecks of chocolate on his lips.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I don't know anymore."

"I will take that as a compliment although I'm not sure if I should."

"Probably not." As hard as Leopold tried, he could not stop focusing on the chocolate on Harry's lips. How was he supposed to stop loving someone so damn loveable? Potter made untidiness sexy. He wondered vaguely if Harry still felt the same about him, or if that feeling had faded the moment Ginny decided she wanted him back. "You, um, you have chocolate on you. On your lips. You slovenly cur." Harry raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Leo.

"Now, that, I'm positive, wasn't a compliment."

"No, that one was." And before Leo could say anything else, they were kissing, all thoughts flying from his mind. Leo tasted the pieces of chocolate Harry's lips had confiscated. That was one way of cleaning them off. Perhaps the best way, in Leo's opinion.

He liked how, whenever he kissed Harry, it just sort of happened. They both let themselves get lost in the event, neither one able to stop it. Leo grabbed Harry's arm almost desperately, pulling the other man closer. Harry was clutching the folds of Leo's shirt, closing the gap between them. Leo was fairly sure he'd never feel this way about anyone else, man or woman. That thought may depress him later on, over a pint of firewhiskey and Roger's sympathetic ear, but at that moment, he didn't care. Stolen kisses were better than nothing.

"You never told me what the best Christmas present ever was."

"It really doesn't matter."

Leopold loved Christmas.


End file.
